The 'Switch Back'

[Shelster]

The 'Switch Back' *Lots of Big Pictures in Spoilers Warning*

***** BIG PICTURES (IN SPOILERS) LATER ON IN THREAD WARNING *****

Well,

Have decided to head on back into the realm of water cooling after a few years of sticking with stock air coolers.

With assistance from pgi947 (many thanks mate) I finally decided to go with the following kit for my build

YOUR BASKET
1 x XSPC RayStorm D5 RX360 WaterCooling Kit £289.68
1 x NZXT Switch 810 Big Tower Case - Black £149.99
1 x XSPC Razor 7970 GPU Waterblock £82.99
1 x NZXT 24-Pin ATX Black Sleeved 25cm Extension Cable (CB-24P) £8.99
2 x NZXT 6+2 Pin PCI-E Black Sleeved 25cm Extension Cable (CB-8V) £7.99 (£15.98)
3 x NZXT SATA extension cable Black - (CB-SATA-11P) £5.99 (£17.97)
2 x NZXT 4-Pin Molex extension cable Black - (CB-11MLEX) £5.99 (£11.98)
1 x NZXT Front Panel connections cable set 30cm sleeved - Black £5.99
1 x NZXT 8-Pin (EPS12V) Black Sleeved 25cm Extension Cable - CB-8P (CB-8P) £5.99
2 x Mayhems Ultra Pure H20 Watercooling Fluid 1L £4.99 (£9.98)
1 x Mayhems Fine Silver Kill Coil £4.5
2 x Akasa USB 40cm Internal to External Cable (EXUSBIE-40) £3.49 (£6.98)
2 x XSPC G1/4" to 7/16" ID, 5/8" OD Compression Fitting (Black Chrome) £2.99 (£5.98)
Total : £633.49 (includes shipping : £13.75).

There is also a NZXT Sentry 2 LCD Touch Screen Fan Controller in there as well (placed order after posting that in other thread)

All is due to be delivered to me on 03 Sep 2012 and will commence the build on that night. Knowing me, I will probably be up all night getting it done as once I start, I know that I cant stop.

I will be adding images for my rig before, then the kit as it turns up, individual parts during the build process and then the finished build. I will also try and document each stage and write an attempt at a review on the kit used.

The most important part of temps will be covered by coretemp and GPU-z which will be monitoring Prime 95 and Furmark respectively.

I took some readings last night of a 'before'

CPU

GPU - Idle

GPU - 10 mins of Furmark

The Furmark got a bit scary as heard 'cracking' sounds when it was running. Have never ran Furmark before so guess it was all down to some thermal expansion inside the case.

Stay tuned to see how things go......hopefully not fizz bang

PS - If the great peeps in OCUK want to save on packaging and put some of the order inside the case, feel free to do so.......just as long as it all gets here

 

[Shelster]

First Picture to whet the whistle and get the appetite going

Whats in Here

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Nice Case Box

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Get me Wet

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The Big Unpacking

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Close up Geek Pron....

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[Shelster]

1st update on the build.

As I say in one of the later posts, I was having some serious issues getting the radiator and the fans to fit. Some Google-fu showed me that I had to remove the top of tha case so as to be able to get the rad and fans installed.

The first pic shows the lid of the case

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Not what I was expecting, but has been a while since I built a watercooling rig, so we live and learn. The next few pics show how little room there is once the rad and fans have been installed.

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The plate that you can see under the last picture is one of the only parts of the case that cant be removed (without serious Dremmel action). It would be nice to be able to remove it or for it to nat actually be there at all. Coujld be somehting that NZXT look at for the next iteration of the case.

Is probably best to have some context for this build too. My last case was an Antec and whilst it had served me well, it was showing its age and was not what I was really after. Ass I had upgraded and added over the years since its purchase, it had become worn and unkept, as can be seen in these next few pictures.

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Yes, it was really that bad in there . That was not a staged picture and was how my rig has been for about the last 2 months or so. I hang my head in shame and deserve flogging for it.

The next stage now that I had ripped out my old kit and thrown away the Antec never to be seen again, was installation.

Firstoff I went for the waterblock on the 7970. From reading it was mentioned that it is rather difficult to remove the standard cooler from a 7970 as the thermal paste is rather sticky. No issues here. 4 screws from the back plate and away came the cooler.

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Following the very easy to follow destruction leaflet that comes with the cooler and the waterblock was mounted within minutes few

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Now a few moody, arty shots of the card and cooler

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[Shelster]

Reserved 3...that should do it (I think)

 

[Shelster]

Yeah mate, still on for the 3rd....better give the receptionist a heads up that there is going to be a rather substantial delivery for me that day...hehe.

I didn't know about the rad flushing until i read another post and saw a rather large lump of solder after that had happened. Guess it makes sense. Not sure which flushing method to go for though? My gut is saying to run the pump and push through the DI into a bowl and then repeat, but seems to be many people who just fill rad with water, slosh away then drain. Any preferences?

Thanks for the offer of bits and bobs too. Hopefully all will be well on 03 Sep, but will let you know if it isnt and i need some 'ready use spares'

 

[Shelster]

Looks like my project is on hold for the time being.

My order is still showing as 'In our warehouse queue' despite me receiving an email on Friday to say that it was still on for delivery today (one item out of stock, but arranged for a substitute on that one).

Waiting to hear back from the webnote I have sent a while back as to what is happening and when I will be likely to see my order delivered.

Watch this space for more updates.......

 

[Shelster]

Did get an email back.....turns out they were out of stock of the power cable extension and the kill coil.

Had the cable swapped and the coli removed. Also got an extra litre of the coolant too...plus the great CS at OCUK took £15.00 off my order for all the inconvenience and delays.... One of the main reasons to keep using OCUK...great CS.

Order is still showing as in the queue, so reckon I should get it tomorrow....fingers crossed.

Now...how do I explain this to the wife

Update 1 @1504 - Looks like my order is on its way.....also appears that one of the compression fittings may have had a slight personality crisis and changed form a black chrome one to just a chrome one....will have to hide that away somewhere

 

[Shelster]

051116ZSEP12 - Just had the very nice man turn up at work with a very large box and a not so large box.

All checked and it appears that the DPD man has forgotten something........WHERE ARE THE HARIBO's

I guess they all went into filling the Corsair case.

Aside form that, all looks good and am looking forward to getting home and getting to put it together. Think tomorrow will be build day as Mrs S gets back from London today, so may have to spend some time with her...womenz hey

 

[Shelster]

Only quick update. All unpacked and good. Have a few pics which i am yet to upload, but will do tomorrow.

Only issues so far appear to be 1-getting the rad and fans to fit......(must be me that one A quick Google-fu and reading some reviews on Overclock3d says that to get the rad including fans inside, you have to remove the roof.....guess that will be next stage) and 2-wondering if i have enough front bays for res, controller and bluray (again must be me)Yep, me on that one. Enough room for all, but only just

Will take more pics as i go, if i get past my 'kid at christmas' mode

 

[Shelster]

Well.....

A brief update on where I am at the moment.

Have got the whole system in and is currently bleeding / leak testing. Have hit a few obstacles and stumbles along the way, and will fully document them.

Have taken a fair few pics but as my computer is still not up, have yet to add them online and link into the post.

Main issues were with the radiator and fans getting to fit and then also with the fans being stalled/jammed by the fan guards that come with the watercooling kit. Had to completekly remove one and bend out the other two with some long nosed pliers.

Have had to order a few more cables as have run out of molex connectors so can't run all in-take fans and the fans through the controller. Also ordered up a sata power cable stack so as to neaten up the power going to the 4 x storage drives and will also allow me to connect the sata power cable that connects to the front panel on the Switch.

Cabling from the front looks good, but is going to take me some time and effort (and probably 200 cable ties and blood) to tidy up around the.

Have to say that I am impressed with the engineering that is in the Switch, but there are a few changes I would make to it to improve.

So, with cables being delivered this week, should be back up and running by the end of the week (fingers crossed)

 

[Shelster]

There will be more updates, but things are getting rather manic here.

So as to not disappoint and keep people interested, here is the link to the album containing the pictures of the build to date (more to be added after cable tidying, led fitting and final tiddly bits)

PRON

Many thanks and big ups to OCUK member Robbie Khan for advice and inspiration on the pictures. A top bloke

Enjoy and keep posted for updates

edit......not happy at all with the cpu block there. WIll be spinning that through 180 degrees when i get home so as to sort that plumbing out. Was tired when I did that.

edit 2....did spin the waterblock, but only by 90 degrees. Inlet port now on the bottom and outlet above

 

[Shelster]

Latest update.....am going to have to break out my hot melt glue gun tonight.

After tidying up the cables at the back of the tray, went to put the side panel on and was rather befuddled when my BIOS did not detect any of the SSD's in there.

Seems I have fallen foul of the 'no latch' snag on my SSD's so the cables keep popping off. Blob of glue on there should have that sorted.

Ran it up yesterday and while I haven't taken any screenies yet was very happy with my temps. Am running the rad fans at 800 rpm and the pump at setting 2.5 at the moment. CPU's were reading 30 C and the GPU was reading 35 C too.....that is a 30 degree idle temp drop on teh GPU alone Ambient temp in my flat is around 24-25 C. May have to adjust fan speeds and pump depending upon temps after the stress testing.

After the glue gun action have to build a wooden platform at the side of my desk to sit the computer on and get it off the floor.

Also received an XFX Eyefinity stand in the post today (2nd hand through the MM here) so will have my setup complete by the weekend. Happy days.