Watercooling the 1200

reiyushin

reiyushin

reiyushin

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Joined
20 Nov 2009
Posts
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Bangor NI
reiyushin said:
I intend to watercool before the year is out but until the end of summer at least I'll be running on air.
Click to expand...

I said that on the 20th of January :) and now it's happening!

Rig Specs:
Case: Antec 1200
CPU: Phenom II X2 550 - Unlocks to X4 B50
Motherboard: Gigabyte - GA-MA790X-UD3P
RAM: Corsair XM2 PC-8500 - 5-6-6-18
Graphics: Sapphire 5850 - Asus Bios @ 900/1200
PSU: Corsair TX650

Watercooling Specs:
Res/Pump: XSPC Dual Bay X20 750lph Pump/Res.
Rad: EK 240 Coolstream XT
Block: EK Supreme HF Full Nickel
Fittings: EK 12mm High Flow Barbs
Tubing: XSPC Black 7/16 ID
Fluid: TFC bidistilled "ultra pure" water
Other: Blue antikink coils, PT_nuke, killcoil, MX-2, Lego crook.

The goal from this initial step into watercooling was mainly to explore, build and learn. Hands on work has always been more interesting to me that a simple bought upgrade.
An SSD or a GFX upgrade would have given a much much bigger boost to performance but it's all plug and play.

You'll have to forgive the pants camera used...I'll take some real shots when my parents bring the decent camera back from their holidays :D

Without further ado....

The mighty 1200
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ignore the curtains, this was taken in my old student digs :p

The old innards
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That cathode inverter would normally hide in one of the spare drive bays but it was having a bad day!

More to follow ofc!
 
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The first delivery to arrive, EK EK EK! Block, Rad and Fittings!
At the side there is the braided 8-pin extension cable, I braided this a few months ago, just never got round to installing it...and then when I do I end up killing a few of the connections so I ordered a presleeved 8pin and resleeved a couple of wires blue to match the theme :)
 
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Some good lookin' fittings :)

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And a damn fine block to match

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The HDD cages needed cut down to size in order to fit the rad and res in place :)
7 for the rad + 2 for the HDDs + 2 fot the res/pump + 1 for the optical = 12
 
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Fans depinned in order to be routed through the slots in the drive bays, keep things nice and neat :D

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The block being AM3'd

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And there we have it, I do like the orientation. Makes the EK logo look even more transformersish!
 
TheCenturion said:
That cpu block is one very sexy thing. I've got one myself :D
Click to expand...

Yes indeed :)

ChrisLandin said:
How are you planning to hold the rad in place in the front drive bays? If your lucky like I was you can actually mount the rad onto the bottom tricool fan if youreverse the screws!
Click to expand...

I'm gonna use a couple of L brackets to hold it in place, it should screw right into both the rad and the holes for the drive bays :)

ChrisLandin said:
Have you thought about adding a second dual rad into the roof? Its very very easy to do and all you have to do is drill 4 extra holes!!
Click to expand...

I'll probably add a second rad when I add in the GPU, just doing the CPU for now. There's so much space at the top, it'd be a shame to waste it :D
 
Cleaned out the rad, twas dirty!!!!!
Used hot water for the first 2 runs then the distilled stuff for the final run.
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The third time it was clean and drinkable (yummy ;)) though the pic doesn't show it :/ probably my greasy paws all over the glass...I blame the nuts!
 
The rest of the kit:

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The res with one tube and antikink coil.
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I worked the antikinks over the tubing and barbs for an extra bit of security :)
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The hungry dogs waiting to kill me if I make a mistake and ruin their computer....
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A nice blurry shot of the L brackets used to hold the rad in place :)
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Migrated to the kitchen to have a little more space to work and removed some of the components.
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A sticky cpu!
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Nice and clean :)
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CPU blocked up, no TIM on, just to measure the tubing :) a nice shot to make a signature from.... ;)
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Back in the case just to help measure things out more accurately
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A less blurry shot of the L brackets :)
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A front shot of the rad in place, it just peeks over 2 fan spaces.
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Tubing getting measured out :)
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Loop complete, components out, time for some leak testing :)
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Jump started the PSU in order to test it.
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Kitchen roll in place.
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Fill the res, run the pump, repeat :)
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The shiny.
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Everything back in.
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Another round of leak testing in position :)
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No leaks so it's all good to go, time for some overclocking :)
 
Pics stil to come but the next stop is colour coordination...

Too many random colours about!

I'll probably hold off until the next gen CPUs are out, my OS is OEM so I can't switch out the mobo for something sexier :(

GFX is the next big purchase on the list, most likely.
I'll see how the new cards do and likely put one of them under water.

Cheap as chips upgrades to come:
PSU sticker! - Though I might upgrade it, depends on the power draw of these newer cards.
Find a new home for the legoman :( he's homeless atm.
Paint fans - done one so far and it adds an ever so slight touch to it which I like :)
 
Still no thermometer... heh.
System is great though, so quiet! Don't know how I did it before XD
I'll definately look to watercool my GPU and I'm hoping that the new AMD cards/580 release should see the 480 drop in price or an influx to the second hand market as I'd like to put one of them under water.

And in my new search for silence I might switch out for an 800D, time will tell. Depends what price it's going to be.
 
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