The Utterly Imbalanced CaseLabs TX10-D build(s)!
- Thread starter vsg28
- Start date
Just for you, jimbaw:
Update time (although probably not one you were expecting since I have not yet finalized on my x99 motherboard and RAM):
Another sponsor? I must be the luckiest guy in the world:
I was speaking to Will, the CEO/CTO at Hardware Labs, about a few things in general and then realized my hotbox would be a great place to test out radiators. One email later, he had 2 of his new Nemesis radiators on the way to me:
A GTX 560 (No, not an old Nvidia GPU) and a GTS 480. We had previously agreed on a GTX 480 and a GTX 560 but he was extremely confident on the GTS 480 being able to beat out other 480/560mm radiators and sent this as an intended replacement for my SR 1 560 radiator. The few reviews out there all seem to agree that these rads pull a lot of weight in performance compared to larger radiators so I am pretty eager to test these out soon.
Here's a look at the GTS 480 (GTX 560 barely fit in my light box):
Bonus- A terrible video looking at the two rads stacked: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1jXJPMO0BOU
I will do a full review soon.
Update time (although probably not one you were expecting since I have not yet finalized on my x99 motherboard and RAM):
Another sponsor? I must be the luckiest guy in the world:
I was speaking to Will, the CEO/CTO at Hardware Labs, about a few things in general and then realized my hotbox would be a great place to test out radiators. One email later, he had 2 of his new Nemesis radiators on the way to me:
A GTX 560 (No, not an old Nvidia GPU) and a GTS 480. We had previously agreed on a GTX 480 and a GTX 560 but he was extremely confident on the GTS 480 being able to beat out other 480/560mm radiators and sent this as an intended replacement for my SR 1 560 radiator. The few reviews out there all seem to agree that these rads pull a lot of weight in performance compared to larger radiators so I am pretty eager to test these out soon.
Here's a look at the GTS 480 (GTX 560 barely fit in my light box):
Bonus- A terrible video looking at the two rads stacked: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1jXJPMO0BOU
I will do a full review soon.
Associate
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- 12 Jun 2003
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- 132
that second to last photo look like its been crossthreaded
Hmm.. Good catch, let me check it out. I haven't heard of a cross threaded radiator port in ages so it may just be the angle.
Edit: Just checked both rads, everything's peachy. The threads begin where they look drossthreaded in that picture above so that may be contributing to the optical illusion.
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Associate
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- 12 Jun 2003
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- 132
cool didnt want to put a downer on it sry for that ,id defo get some PTFE tape at the ready
really case btw
cool didnt want to put a downer on it sry for that ,id defo get some PTFE tape at the ready
really case btw
Ahaha I got plenty of PTFE for random incidents- especially after some darned rotary fittings leaked on me. But I think I will be good here, HWL has a reputation for really good rads. In fact I just scratched some paint off a couple of fins by mistake and only then noticed how good a paint job they had done. Here's the innards:
I bet I can hook this up straight to a loop and not have any issues. Swiftech, XSPC and HWL take rad cleaning seriously unlike a few others we know
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Associate
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- 12 Jun 2003
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- 132
is that paint on the rad really that textured ? or just the way you zoomed in
It is that way, they call it their dark matter finish. Europe won't get it though- their market research showed you lot prefer the ol' matte finish. I was in two minds about it after just having seen it in pictures and videos but feeling it in person definitely changed my mind positively about it.
haha I guess it'll have to do!
nice one! I've got a 280 sr1 myself. can't wait to actually put it to good use (just waiting for my ek supremacy evo...)
Associate
- Joined
- 12 Jun 2003
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- 132
it looks good but i imagine its abit of a dust hoarder an hard to keep clean
Possibly yeah, the little nooks and crannies in there provide a lot of dust traps. But it also hides dust (and scratches) well so that's there
Hmmm.. If you just bought the SR1 then I would recommend returning it. SR 2 on the way very soon!
Now thanks to Mundi from Ice Modz, I obtained 5 meters of some really nice 10/12mm acrylic tubing. So of course I got a few 10/12 fittings to see how they are before I decide on getting them in bulk. In all likelihood this will be for Side 2:
First up the EK HDC fittings:
The finish on these is nice but I would have liked a little more on the "barb" end to grip on to when securing/removing the tubing. Next up, Bitspower Enhanced multilinks:
No wonder I have a ton of BP fittings, the finish is great on both parts here. The tubing needs to be near perfect though else it won't fit in fully- I ended up cracking one of the ends on my tubing because of this. I also got the EK fittings in red as previously seen with the Supremacy Evo. Perhaps it is from the anodization but the compression ring is much coarser than the nickel finish HDC here and feels somewhat cheaper to me personally.
Oh, I also got a section of the new Alphacool plated copper tubing (10/13mm) and 2 of their fittings to try out:
The 10/12mm fittings definitely don't fit. The tubing is quite hefty as expected and the finish isn't bad (I made a mistake and got the black chrome version instead). It is also a fingerprint magnet and, as per James Walt, can actually bend without the finish crazing. I will get a bender and check for myself.
Here are the fittings opened:
Now a size comparison:
So far I am leaning towards getting the BP fittings for the 10/12mm tubing although the EK nickel HDC is also pretty good. Nothing finalized just yet.
Mundi also sent along some of his lighting that he is known for:
Here is 1 set:
You can connect these as long as you want and the only limitation is the amps on the PSU rail powering the cable. I got the RGB kit with wireless controller because he is a pretty darn amazing guy. The default color when hooked up is blue:
Very easy to cycle through the colors and brightness, here are a few examples:
There are various modes and brightness levels to play with as with most RGB wireless controllers.
Finally, he also sent 2 of his sleeved wires at my request. Other than lighting, he makes custom extensions at a very reasonable price (inclusive of shipping worldwide) so I asked for 1 each of a 16 and 18 AWG wire in different colors:
The sleeving is heatshrinkless, even for 16 AWG, and looks very well done. If any of the lighting or sleeving shown here sounds interesting, do check out his work (not sure if I can link it here).
First up the EK HDC fittings:
The finish on these is nice but I would have liked a little more on the "barb" end to grip on to when securing/removing the tubing. Next up, Bitspower Enhanced multilinks:
No wonder I have a ton of BP fittings, the finish is great on both parts here. The tubing needs to be near perfect though else it won't fit in fully- I ended up cracking one of the ends on my tubing because of this. I also got the EK fittings in red as previously seen with the Supremacy Evo. Perhaps it is from the anodization but the compression ring is much coarser than the nickel finish HDC here and feels somewhat cheaper to me personally.
Oh, I also got a section of the new Alphacool plated copper tubing (10/13mm) and 2 of their fittings to try out:
The 10/12mm fittings definitely don't fit. The tubing is quite hefty as expected and the finish isn't bad (I made a mistake and got the black chrome version instead). It is also a fingerprint magnet and, as per James Walt, can actually bend without the finish crazing. I will get a bender and check for myself.
Here are the fittings opened:
Now a size comparison:
So far I am leaning towards getting the BP fittings for the 10/12mm tubing although the EK nickel HDC is also pretty good. Nothing finalized just yet.
Mundi also sent along some of his lighting that he is known for:
Here is 1 set:
You can connect these as long as you want and the only limitation is the amps on the PSU rail powering the cable. I got the RGB kit with wireless controller because he is a pretty darn amazing guy. The default color when hooked up is blue:
Very easy to cycle through the colors and brightness, here are a few examples:
There are various modes and brightness levels to play with as with most RGB wireless controllers.
Finally, he also sent 2 of his sleeved wires at my request. Other than lighting, he makes custom extensions at a very reasonable price (inclusive of shipping worldwide) so I asked for 1 each of a 16 and 18 AWG wire in different colors:
The sleeving is heatshrinkless, even for 16 AWG, and looks very well done. If any of the lighting or sleeving shown here sounds interesting, do check out his work (not sure if I can link it here).
I got the sr1 second hand (brand new in box) for a real bargain. I'll keep an eye out for the sr2
and regarding the fittings and tubing, if you go for 12mm od, I'd say go for the BP (but you already seem to be leaning that way anyway), and if not, alphacool fittings and copper tubing. do they do a shinier version? as in nickel, not black nickel?
Yes, this thing is still alive. Work and reviews are taking a lot of time though. In case you guys missed it, here's a review of the MCP50X: http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18627435
Also look what just showed up:
Technically these for the quad radiator comparison, but I may well end up using some of these depending on how much air they push out compared to my other gazillion fans in here. I got an extech thermo-anemometer for real cheap off an estate sale on eBay so that will help a lot!
I also got the pump for Side 2 all ready to go:
Unfortunately this particular top is pretty mediocre at best performance wise. So I will consider another if it turns out to be a deal breaker. So after that review, I have decided on 2x MCP50X for the Side 1 GPU loop, MCP35X2 for the Side 1 CPU loop and this D5 for Side 2.
Also look what just showed up:
Technically these for the quad radiator comparison, but I may well end up using some of these depending on how much air they push out compared to my other gazillion fans in here. I got an extech thermo-anemometer for real cheap off an estate sale on eBay so that will help a lot!
I also got the pump for Side 2 all ready to go:
Unfortunately this particular top is pretty mediocre at best performance wise. So I will consider another if it turns out to be a deal breaker. So after that review, I have decided on 2x MCP50X for the Side 1 GPU loop, MCP35X2 for the Side 1 CPU loop and this D5 for Side 2.
RVE got here yesterday:
This contraption should be fun to work with, but at this point I can't imagine the cable provided to be long enough for the TX10.
Oh well, at least it isn't DOA.
Inside are 2 boxes as usual with the Asus boards, one for accessories and the other for the board (+ OC panel). First up, accessory box:
Bottom left:
Manual, cable stickers, case badge, driver disk, I/O shield, LN2 backplate, and OC panel connector cable. I wish that OC panel cable was longer, and the I/O shield was black. I'll probably coat it black if it bothers me too much.
Bottom right:
2 way, long 2 way flexible SLI bridges and 3-way, 4-way rigid SLI bridges. I have never understood why only SLI bridges are provided with motherboards- how are GPU manufacturers supposed to understand the spacing for crossfire configurations when bundling CFX bridges?
Top left:
WiFi antenna, Q-connectors, thermal probes, and 10 SATA data cables.
Top right:
That's the 5.25" bay adapter for the OC panel. Enough of this, right on to the board now:
That's one shiny SupremeFX chip! My Fii0 e17 is all I really use though.
Molex for supplemental PCI-E power
8 phase VRM. Kinda glad they went with "it's not the number, but the quality" here.
Those PCI-E lane toggle switches are the sole reason I went with this board instead of something like the -WS, still not a big fan of the looks on this board. Finally, a look at the "OC socket":
So far people have been able to get the uncore frequencies above 4 GHz only on these sockets so something must be working right here. Time will tell. Oh well, now I have 2 paperweights instead of the single CPU paperweight, now waiting on the RAM to arrive.
This contraption should be fun to work with, but at this point I can't imagine the cable provided to be long enough for the TX10.
Oh well, at least it isn't DOA.
Inside are 2 boxes as usual with the Asus boards, one for accessories and the other for the board (+ OC panel). First up, accessory box:
Bottom left:
Manual, cable stickers, case badge, driver disk, I/O shield, LN2 backplate, and OC panel connector cable. I wish that OC panel cable was longer, and the I/O shield was black. I'll probably coat it black if it bothers me too much.
Bottom right:
2 way, long 2 way flexible SLI bridges and 3-way, 4-way rigid SLI bridges. I have never understood why only SLI bridges are provided with motherboards- how are GPU manufacturers supposed to understand the spacing for crossfire configurations when bundling CFX bridges?
Top left:
WiFi antenna, Q-connectors, thermal probes, and 10 SATA data cables.
Top right:
That's the 5.25" bay adapter for the OC panel. Enough of this, right on to the board now:
That's one shiny SupremeFX chip! My Fii0 e17 is all I really use though.
Molex for supplemental PCI-E power
8 phase VRM. Kinda glad they went with "it's not the number, but the quality" here.
Those PCI-E lane toggle switches are the sole reason I went with this board instead of something like the -WS, still not a big fan of the looks on this board. Finally, a look at the "OC socket":
So far people have been able to get the uncore frequencies above 4 GHz only on these sockets so something must be working right here. Time will tell. Oh well, now I have 2 paperweights instead of the single CPU paperweight, now waiting on the RAM to arrive.