The Chaos Engine (Air > Water Cooled)

[pugheaven]

THE FINISHED ARTICLE

With Cheese....

Without Cheese....

So, what do you do when you're 100% happy with your rig performance BUT you get bored... well you watercool is what you do, however because I fancied a change of chassis... it's meant quite a few changes...so, basically the build has started today. So, basically re-using most of my old parts from the current machine, transplanting into the new machine and replaced parts in old machine. So, this is my current rig:


CURRENT RIG:

Chassis: Antec 1200 Full Tower Case
Processor: Intel E5-Xeon 1680 V2 8 Core/16 Thread @4600MHz Ivy Bridge (1.250v) EP/EX
Motherboard: Asus Sabertooth X79 TUF Gaming
Graphics Card: Powercolor Radeon 5700XT @2031/1900MHz (1.179mv)
RAM: 64Gb Kingston HyperX DDR3 1866mhz Quad Channel (3732mhz) @10-10-10-28-1T
PSU: Super Flower 1200W Gold
SSD & Storage: ASRock Ultra Quad M.2 PCI-E 3.0 Adaptor Card
· 2 x Sabrent 2TB Rocket NVMe PCIe 4.0 M.2
· 2 x Samsung 840 Evo Pro SSD in RAID0
· 2 x Intel SSD in RAID0
· 2 x 4TB Seagate 7,200RPM HDD

So, basically a lot of this will be moving over to the new water cooled and I've got back spares to put into the what will be 2nd rig as I can't bare to get rid of my Antec case as it's fantastic, these will be i7-3970x 6 core@4600mhz, 64GB GIEL Evo Corsa 1600mhz/3200mhz Quad Channel.I built that last night and slapped a Sapphire Nitro+ AMD Radeon 570 into it and left the Intel SSD's in RAID0 in it and one of the 4TB. Everything is good, so while I build the new one, I've still got a fully functioning rig while I work as god knows how long this will take.



NEW RIG:

Chassis: Lian Li PC-O11 Dynamic (White)
Sleeved PSU Cables: Shakmods Premium sleeved cables (White)
· 1 x 24 Pin E-ATX Power Extension Cable (White)
· 1 x 8 Pin E-ATX CPU Power 12v Extension Cable (White)
· 2 x 8 Pin PCIE Power Extension Cable (White)
· 2 x 6 Pin PCIE Power Extension Cable (White)
· 1 x Motherboard Pin (USB etc) Extension Cable (White)
Water In-line Temperature Sensor: Barrow Black Digital OLED Display Thermometer - A66
Chassis & Radiator Fans: 7 x AIGO Aurora C5 120mm RGB fans
Water Pump: Barrow Water-cooling DDC Pump, PWM Combination Pumps, LRC 2.0 RGB
Water Reservoir: Barrow Waterway LRC 2.0 RGB Panel (Front) Lian Li PC-011 Dynamic
Intel CPU Block: Barrow CPU Water Block use for Intel X99 X299 Socket LGA2011 2066 Acrylic AURA RGB Light Copper Radiator Block LTYK3X-04-V2
GPU Waterblock: Eisblock Aurora Plexi GPX-A AMD Radeon RX 5700/5700XT Water Block
Waterloop Coolant: 3 x EK-Cryo Fuel Acid Green 1L Premix Water-cooling Fluid
Rigid Fittings: Barrow 16 x OD14mm rigid compression fittings (White)
Rigid Fittings: Barrow 12 x Rotary 90 Degree OD14mm Tube Compression Fitting (White)
Rigid Fittings: Barrow T Virus Spiral Suspension tank LRC 2.0 RGB (black end with white virus)
Rigid Fittings: Barrow 14mm mini sealing ball valve with tap (white)
Rigid Fittings: Barrow 14mm “time” series manual tightening lock sealing plug
Rigid Fittings: Barrow LRC 2.0 RGB Flow Indicator
Hard Water Tubes: Barrow 10 x OD14mm PETG 500mm clear rigid tubes
Radiators: 2x240mm Aluminium Radiators in white
Chassis RGB Controller: Barrow 16 x Way SATA Power 5/12v LRC 2.0 RGB Controller with Remote
Chassis & Motherboard Screws: 10 x M3 Aluminium Computer PC Case Fully Threaded Knurled Thumb Screws Bolts (Black)



Current rig as it is:

 

[pugheaven]

So, all the bits taken out of the current rig. The mothboard I've blown out, brushed off and also replaced all the thermal compound on it where needed and it's like new. I then replaced the mobo with another X79 Sabertooth, slapped the 570x Nitro Radeon in and the GEIL ram... and this is now my second rig:

So, then I took as much out as I can... these little beauties are coming into the new rig:

 

[pugheaven]

So, the build starts and here the new case, have to admit these are a fantastic piece of engineering, well put together and thought out, great finish... infact they're gorgeous!

 

[gpuerrilla]

Might just be me but them image tags dont reveal any pictures? :S

 

[Mcnumpty2323]

Wow you really were bored that's a big list
Why have you got aluminium rads?
If everything else isn't aluminium you risk galvanic corrosion mixing metals

 

[Mcnumpty2323]

Might just be me but them image tags dont reveal any pictures? :S

Can see them all fine here

 

[Relentless81]

Did I sell you that case years ago or have I got that completely wrong?

 

[pugheaven]

Wow you really were bored that's a big list
Why have you got aluminium rads?
If everything else isn't aluminium you risk galvanic corrosion mixing metals

Was waiting for that hahaha

Basically because I'm personally not convinced that ANY system is one pure metal throughout (AIO's are a mixture usually from what I can see) and also I'm not convinced that mixing metals with corrosion additives 100% results in that. So, I thought I'm going to see what happens if you do mix BUT use corrosion inhibitors. I've looked at my mates water cooling system and that had one copper and dont' ask why, one ali rad in it which was weird (I think he bought them from different places as one was a 240 and the other 360)... plus all the other metal bits in a loop that he ran for nearly 3 years without changing the water at all. When we flushed everything out as he was rebuilding, other than the water not smelling nice weirdly and a little build of what I assume was algae really on the inside of the clear pipes , there seemed no real corrosiion in the radiators at all and we found this out by cutting one of them apart (which was harder than I expected lol) as I was convinced they'd be rust filled or something like that... . That build he did was based on £17 radiators off ebay... and it worked like a dream... so hey... in 3 years of not looking after his system BUT HE DID put inhibitors in there... I'm going off my own personal experience on this one.

So, after this I was convinced that sometimes you just have to try it for yourself. So yeah, I know that will raise some eyebrows however, I'm gonna go with it and just see. However, personally I intend to flush the system once every 12 months anyway as that's what I do with my proper PC dust wise, so to me, this will just be a spring clean. We shall see and any signs that somethings not right will switch them out.

 

[pugheaven]

Did I sell you that case years ago or have I got that completely wrong?

Deffo not me matey, the missus bought it for me for Fathers Day lol

 

[pugheaven]

 

[Relentless81]

Deffo nto me, the missus bought it for me for Fathers Day lol

Ah ok, I sold one to someone on here 7/8 years ago would have been good if that was it!

Enjoy the build

 

[Mcnumpty2323]

Was waiting for that hahaha

Basically because I'm personally not convinced that ANY system is one pure metal throughout (AIO's are a mixture usually from what I can see) and also I'm not convinced that mixing metals with corrosion additives 100% results in that. So, I thought I'm going to see what happens if you do mix BUT use corrosion inhibitors. I've looked at my mates water cooling system and that had one copper and dont' ask why, one ali rad in it which was weird (I think he bought them from different places as one was a 240 and the other 360)... plus all the other metal bits in a loop that he ran for nearly 3 years without changing the water at all. When we flushed everything out as he was rebuilding, other than the water not smelling nice weirdly and a little build of what I assume was algae really on the inside of the clear pipes , there seemed no real corrosiion in the radiators at all and we found this out by cutting one of them apart (which was harder than I expected lol) as I was convinced they'd be rust filled or something like that... . That build he did was based on £17 radiators off ebay... and it worked like a dream... so hey... in 3 years of not looking after his system BUT HE DID put inhibitors in there... I'm going off my own personal experience on this one.

So, after this I was convinced that sometimes you just have to try it for yourself. So yeah, I know that will raise some eyebrows however, I'm gonna go with it and just see. However, personally I intend to flush the system once every 12 months anyway as that's what I do with my proper PC dust wise, so to me, this will just be a spring clean. We shall see and any signs that somethings not right will switch them out.

Fair enough
Just thought would point it out just in case you weren't aware
Never mixed metals myself so can't say
Yeah for certain you will get corrosion
Or not
Guess it won't be rust since aluminium and copper, or nickel coated copper dont
Rust
Though not quite sure how you know its corroding when you don't see rust lol
Guess scientifically rust and corrosion can be different things from each other
Any way with the inhibitors I hope you get no issues
Looks like will be a nice build good luck

 

[pugheaven]

Fair enough
Just thought would point it out just in case you weren't aware
Never mixed metals myself so can't say
Yeah for certain you will get corrosion
Or not
Guess it won't be rust since aluminium and copper, or nickel coated copper dont
Rust
Though not quite sure how you know its corroding when you don't see rust lol
Guess scientifically rust and corrosion can be different things from each other
Any way with the inhibitors I hope you get no issues
Looks like will be a nice build good luck

Yeah suppose will take a look at the surfaces of things really, blocks etc on the water, see if the water gets crud, check rads as you can see a little inside. One of those, yeah suck it and see and I may find that hey never mix metals rofl, but tbh, things are always replaceable so, won't be the end of the world.

Yeah, hopin to do something special and real build starts this weekend, so will post pictures. Will take a little longer though as filming it all and will be creating a full video time lasped on the build as fancied doing some proper video and sound editing as well and this would be perfect excuse to do it tbh. So, yeah looking forward to this... first ever watercool buikld so, sure i'll mess things up a little, especially with the piping bends but we shall see lol

 

[Mcnumpty2323]

Yeah suppose will take a look at the surfaces of things really, blocks etc on the water, see if the water gets crud, check rads as you can see a little inside. One of those, yeah suck it and see and I may find that hey never mix metals rofl, but tbh, things are always replaceable so, won't be the end of the world.

Yeah, hopin to do something special and real build starts this weekend, so will post pictures. Will take a little longer though as filming it all and will be creating a full video time lasped on the build as fancied doing some proper video and sound editing as well and this would be perfect excuse to do it tbh. So, yeah looking forward to this... first ever watercool buikld so, sure i'll mess things up a little, especially with the piping bends but we shall see lol

Well good luck
And look forward to seeing photos /videos

 

[pugheaven]

Ok, hit a few problems today, but the major one was major:

1). As I'm using PCIE Slot 1 for my graphcis card, I use slot 2 and slot 3 for my NMVe drives. Now, this causes a problem that I hadn't thought of... the 3rd slot is right at the bottom as can be seen in the pictures and this is where I was/am putting the 2nd rad and coolers... however, this doesn't allow my PCIE slot to be used... then thought about redeisinging the loop and possibly have that radiator vertical up the back... then thought as it's only a 240mm it'll look odd and I may have to buy a 360mm rad... all sorts of things, but ultimatly with the style and design I wanted, nothing works.

So, I've ordered (for delivery Sunday) a PCIE expander cable but only a 10cm one... this will allow me to plug in the expander cable then roll it slightly and slot the NVMe into that and literally just hide the thing, not the neatest or best solution but you won't see it and as long as it works it's the only solution I can do without a complete overhall of the whole thing. So, that was big problem hopefully solved but will find out later today.

2). so, second problem that reallllllyyyy cheesed me off, when I was fitting one of my SSD's in the back panel, I caught the SATA powr cable and broke one of the SSD's, was livid, I think it'll still work as the pins aren't damaged but it's the L shape thing that basically snapped... if I've broke it will find out. I boot of the NNMe drives so it was a RAID0 backup of that C@ drive so it's not a show stopper but I'll be cheesed if ti is damaged so fingers crossed. However, yeah, coming along now... if I can get all the wiring in as much as I can tomorrow, then this week will start on the water cooling side of it more... adn hopefully done for next weekend.

 

[Mcnumpty2323]

Unfortunate start to things
Another option would be a pcie card that
Takes 2 M2 drives
Seen one from Akasa I think that was reasonably priced
There's ones that can take 4 x M2 but probably more costly

My mate is always snapping those sata connectors on ssds he's heavy handed lol
Most times they still work
Have actually got 2 he snapped
1 I shoved in a laptop the other in an external caddy
As long as the pins are OK and you are gentle will likely still work.

 

[pugheaven]

Unfortunate start to things
Another option would be a pcie card that
Takes 2 M2 drives
Seen one from Akasa I think that was reasonably priced
There's ones that can take 4 x M2 but probably more costly

My mate is always snapping those sata connectors on ssds he's heavy handed lol
Most times they still work
Have actually got 2 he snapped
1 I shoved in a laptop the other in an external caddy
As long as the pins are OK and you are gentle will likely still work.

Yeah I've actually already got a PCIE3.0 ASUS M2 card that takes 4xM2's, however in this build it just looks wrong, it's silver etc but looks a bit 2000 and ugly... in the old case it looked ok so just trying to keep this build as clean as possible. Yeah hopefully pins don't look damaged so will secure the SSD down once finished the wiring etc and just hope it works, it's not as though it'llbe movnig or anything so fingers crossed. Theswe things happen hahaha...

This build is actually taking longer than I thought it would, trying to fit normal family life in and do this kinda thing PLUS trying to do something where you basically see no cables other than the ones you want people to see i.e. the white ones... it's tricky and also even with the cable ties, you start pulling on them they lose their order and start looking scruffy again i.e. the ATX power cable, if that looks scruffy makes the whole thing look a mess... in the background this is gonna be cable tie heaven hahaha.

 

[Mcnumpty2323]

Yeah I've actually already got a PCIE3.0 ASUS M2 card that takes 4xM2's, however in this build it just looks wrong, it's silver etc but looks a bit 2000 and ugly... in the old case it looked ok so just trying to keep this build as clean as possible. Yeah hopefully pins don't look damaged so will secure the SSD down once finished the wiring etc and just hope it works, it's not as though it'llbe movnig or anything so fingers crossed. Theswe things happen hahaha...

This build is actually taking longer than I thought it would, trying to fit normal family life in and do this kinda thing PLUS trying to do something where you basically see no cables other than the ones you want people to see i.e. the white ones... it's tricky and also even with the cable ties, you start pulling on them they lose their order and start looking scruffy again i.e. the ATX power cable, if that looks scruffy makes the whole thing look a mess... in the background this is gonna be cable tie heaven hahaha.

yeah i hate the cable management too lol
i use velcro ties as was forever cutting off plastic ones
when deciding to alter stuff

 

[pugheaven]

Well the riser cable came today, so fitted and all is well again, it's a little "botch but actually looks neat and allows me to keep the rad down the bottom of the case: Basically ran the cable from the bottom PCIE3.0 slot and flick over the NMVe card in the 2nd PCIE3.0 slot... and screwed into the same back port, all looks neat and back to normal again.

However, time to start tidying the rear cables up, even though no one can see them I need to move wires around now me thinks... and also plug in the lighting etc and decide where that will go and be fixed as got controller boxes for the RGB fans and also the Barrow 5v RGB on the waterblock, the pump and the GPU waterblock so need to think where is neat around the back so nothing snags, bit of a mess at moment but... I'll get there.

 

[Mcnumpty2323]

looking good
though yeah that case is tight for cable management
especially if thats a long 24 pin extension cable