v2k build log

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Started up a thread a while back, and never got round to finishing it, and actually, STILL haven't got round to finishing this pc yet, but it's close to being done. Anyway, after loosing most of the pics i've taken i'll hope to give you lot some idea of how the project went/comes together.

Enjoy CyZMyAssBaby!

Trying out a dual loop in a v2000, i'm not expecting any huge performance gains from my current setup, but hopefully i should be running a little cooler, and a little quieter!

My previous setup consisted of a q6600, 4gig ballistix, 88ultra, bfg 680i (D00 ofc ) hx620w, hdd, optical.

All in one loop: fuzion, dd nb block, ek 88gtx block, ddc ultra, PA120.2.

Safe to say this ran a little warm, and slightly noisier than i had hoped (due largely to the hdd and the ddc ultra.. and the dvd drive when on full speed) It also wasn't the best thought out setup, the rad was mounted in the roof, inside the case, and too up 4 pci slots! (2 of which were pci-e) and 3 front bays, leaving me practically no room for any kind of upgrade. I have now decided to migrate this setup into a v2000, largely because the bottom compartment is mah00sive, and i can house a couple of rad's down there.

There are some changes to the system, got rid of the ultra, offered a great price for it, and took it, to which i bought 2 (when i say 2, i bought 1, and recieved another a day after the 1st.. gotta love admin screw-ups...) 8800gts 512's. I have also acquired a cheap physx card... i know, i know, i'll get slated for owning one of these, but it really was cheap, and thought i could have a play! ?I shall also be changing my hard drive at some point (hitachi 250gig) I'm thinking along the lines of quietness, and have opted to get a 500gig seagate 7200.11, or WD AAKS, this should hopefully last me a while, my 250gig isn't even half full yet!

So my plan is for dual loopage, gfx cards in one (along with the physx card if i decide to get a maze4... obviously this isn't going to perform any different, but it'll be quiet at least...) and in loop 2, i'll have the cpu, nb, and sb.

I have opted for ddc pro's this time, to hopefully cut down on a bit of noise, they should be up to the job. And i have a PA120.3, and a PA120.2. Now i am still unsure as of which rad to use in which loop. If my calculations are correct, then the gfx card loop is going to be pumping out more heat, and thus should use the 120.3 with that loop, any suggestions here would be great!

Both rads will be mounted in the bottom of the case, both expelling air through meshed windows (that i'll be doing myself) in each case side.

One of the other issues i'm having, is the psu mounting. i can't have it on the bottom, as the 120.3 wont fit, and if i rotate the backplate, the psu's 120mm fan is then getting no air because it is touching the centre devide. So i shall instead be cutting the plate in 2, shifting the bottom half up so the psu is in the correct orientation, and in the top slot, and then fashioning a blanking plate out of some of the alu that i'll have left from cutting a side window, with the possibility of adding a 120mm fan there too.. Any other suggestions here?

I'll be going for a black/silver/green theme in this case, and thus have a green bulgin switch for the power, i shall also make some kind of reset switch... the only gripe i have with the v1000 and v2000 are lack of these... Water, acid green feser1, should add to the look.. couple of uv cathodes too ofc

I am also going to be adding a couple of fillports to the top AND bottom of the case, it's been a right pain draining the v1000.... so hoping to make this a bit easier this time Which leads me on to the resevoirs... i really don't know what to use... I'm tempted to use a couple of bay res's, they should look rather nice, but, i'm doing something 'special' on a couple of the drive bay covers, so not sure if i would have the space. I'm also going to be mounting my hdd in the front bay area, my pump's possibly too, if i can't find anywhere on the bottom of the case... Still a fair few undecideds here.

Ooh, also, i'm going to try my luck at some soldering, and will be swapping out the blu led's on my akasa ak-03 fan controller for green ones, THAT should be a laugh for you lot :lol:

Anyway, i've taken delivery of quite a few parts in the last 2 days, so i'll start to get some photo's up, 'cos i know that's all you lot are interested in

Watch this space!

 

[V|per]

And with this said, i have built it (quite a while ago actually) and things have changed, and certain things are not finished yet, but blah, i have some spare time to get this thing finally finished off, so, i'll go dig out some of the photos for y'all to see (and laugh at, as i messed up on res's and pump mounting a fair few time... not to mention i couldn't use a dremmel correctly :lol:

Slight changes to the above:

Rads: i now have 2 PA120.3's.. w00t!

Physx card: It won't fit with the maze4 on it, so i'm scrapping the idea of that.. was only going to add to the bling and for me to mess with anyway..

drain ports: Decided against these, no particular reason, just a couple less holes to cut :huh:

HDD: WD AAKS 500gig was the weapon of choice, and it's 1000% quieter than the old hitachi. It's been mounted in the 5.25" bays, but it's damn hot there (hottest thing in the computer actually...) so i'll be mounting it 'creatively' to the underside of the middle devider. Picked up a zalman hdd cooler for it too, so should help keep it cool and quiet!

PSU mounting: I cut the plate in half, and i'll fassion some sort of blanking plate with a hole for another 120mm fan in there i think.

And with that said, pics:

1st off, is the size difference between the v1k and v2k, it's a beast!

And the innards gutted:

This is what i managed to do with the dremmel to the top panel whilst working on the fillport holes... This now has a completely new idea planned for it:

Initial placement for one of the pumps, had to be completely re-thought, as the hdd ad optical drive were messing with tube routing and res positioning etc:

Then things started to go wrong, no time to do stuff, ek res 150's being different sizes (the older ones are 170mm tall, new 150mm tall...) so had to re-order and get ek 100's.

Parts to be used:

Rads and pumps in place, and the obligatory thumbs up from me. Had to change the pump mounting, as i just could not get the res'/tubing from res' to cooperate :crying:

And now that i finally found a way of fitting it all in, this is a pic of the final layout before adding any liquid to the system:

Liquid added.. When i shorted the psu, i didn't think it was working, as it takes a good 5-10 seconds for the pumps to turn on, the fan on the psu is deadly silent, but leak testing commenced:

And here we have a uv cathode quickly chucked into the mix!

 

[V|per]

Fan controllers... well, i had the led's changed to green to go with the theme on my akasa ak-03, this was the results:

Not the best pics, but you get the idea... ignore the bit above the controllers for now...


Anyway, braided them too:

decided i quite liked braiding... almost.. relaxing...


Anyway, after i found these, i just had to have them, and i think you'll agree... sooo much nicer (even if the lcd readouts are not green...)

As for the minor slipup on the top panel, it's now turned into the following. doesn't need to be neat (yet) i have plans, but rest assured, they will be revealed.

As for the backplate, it got cut in half, filed down (the top of the psu is touching the center devide) i also needed to re-drill some mounting holes in the back, and the bottom half of psu plate (as you can see in the pic) is bolted on. The supplied thumbscrews were sufficient for the top half, although i had to file the mounting holes a bit further down the plate to get the psu as high up as possible.

And this is what i intend to have in the space:

I mentionned earlier that i had something a little special planned for the drive bay covers. Well, i appear to have lost the work in progress pics (please send them to me again if you have them...) But this is the final piece (im soo sorry for the lame pics, it just doesn not do your work justice...)

A quick pic of the res' to finish off, the one on the left is the cpu/chipset loop, one on the right is the Gfx loop.. just goes to show how much more restrictive the cpu/chipset loop is... look at the difference in turbulence!

 

[V|per]

reserved for final thought, side panel cuts cable tidying etc etc...

 

[V|per]

bet the missus loves you for what you have done to the dinner table lol

If only i had a missus... live with parents anyway, and that's the spare dining room able

Looking forward to see how this turns out, would love to water cool in that case lots of room.
I keep seeing those white fans with the what looks like golf ball effect on them, is there anything special about them? do they push a lot of air? are they quiet etc?

They're quiet, i mean, really quiet. They also look awesome (but that's just personal preference)

Awesome build mate, I hope my v2000 comes out as nice as yours!


ps. check my build thread and you will see the reservoir you sold me in there lol

You put a lot of effort into your builds, i'm sure you'll have an awesome rig sorted out in no time!

And yeah, already checked her out, looking good dude!

 

[V|per]

*UPDATE*

Got a bit of spare time coming up in the next few weeks, so hopefully i'll get this finished off

*edit*

isn't this pic just made of win?