Wildman Watercools

[wildman]

Its been a long time coming but the parts are starting to arrive. Unfortunately I have a massive travel schedule coming up for work over April so this project is going to be a slow burner.

I'll record my progress as I go along with photo's and write down my experiences of my first watercooling project as I go along. I am expecting this to a quite a learning curve, but none the less I am still aiming for a good quality end job.

Outline of the project:

Watercool a 2500K + MSI 7950 inside a cm690ii with zero mods to the case using a total of 600mm worth of rad !

Now on to the kit. FOr the fittings I got lazy and couldn't be bothered photographing each one so I just stuck a few together so you can see what I am going to be using.

Koolance Compression Fittings

Bitspower 45° Rotary compressions

Bitspower 'T' fitting for the drain line

Bitspower Tap for the drain

GPU Block and Backplate - Heatkiller 79X0

CPU Block - Koolance 380

Koolance Resevoir with dual Alphacool D5 varios already installed
Pumps will be working in serial, but I won't be using the serial connector for the res. The loop will run like this

so loop would be Res > P1 OUT > CPU > RAD > RAD > P2 IN > P2 OUT > GFX > RAD > P1 IN

120mm self adhesive radiator gaskets

UV LED ligthing for res and case

MSI 7950 OC v2 and more Corsair RAM (already installed in the case a few weeks ago

Kit Still to come:

Hardware Labs Black ICE Radiator GTX-Lite 240
XSPC RS240 Radiator
Hardware Labs Black ICE Radiator GTS-Lite
Mayhems Pastel - UV White Coolant
Arctic Cooling MX-4 Thermal Compound
Lamptron FC2
Sythe GT 1850 fans x 6
Tubing
A few more 1/2" ID - 5/8" OD compression fittings

 

[pgi947]

Look forward to it, the 690 II is a very under rated case

 

[skylineboy]

Look forward to it, the 690 II is a very under rated case

I actually miss mine.



I look forward to seeing this

 

[wildman]

So I was sitting there looking inside my machine and thought in for a penny in for a pound and ordered a bunch of braid and heatshrink.

The PSU is a fully wired XFX core edition 750W bronze. I think its going to be tricky especially the sata power cables. I am goiong for single sleeving on every cable in black and blue.

Rest of the parts are incoming this week and next week. So more pics of gear to follow.

 

[wildman]

Small update:

Rads, coolant, fans, tubing, fan controller here. Just waiting on the braiding gear so work can commence. Have a feeeling I'll be waiting for a while before it gets here. If its not here by end of the week then unfortunaltey this won't kick off till start of May as I will be out for 3 to 4 weeks starting late next week

 

[wildman]

progress update:

braided cables for pumps
braided fan cables on the GT's
treated fingers for 3rd degree burns............ heatshrinking with a lighter is 'interesting'

pics to follow later.

Business travel now stops play untill May

Also toying with the idea of getting another 7950 and going crossfire, although the jury are still out on this.............

 

[wildman]

The good news is this project is now completed. The bad news is my camera is getting fixed so no pics for a few days.

Also waiting on some replacement UV lighting as in my haste to get the strip out of the back I sliced it in half with a stanley knife :O !!!!!!

The project took a few turns.

1: When PSU was braided (XFX 850W) the cables took up so much space that I couldn't get the bottom rad in as it was tight already. Even if I could the bulk at the back was so much that the rear panel would never have gone back on

2: With an RS240 in the roof the clearance at the back to fit the 120 rad inside the chasis was not enough. Solution 120 rad externally mounted

3: The cm690ii is a very good case but cable management is not its forte due to size especially when you are running 6 fans, a 7950 crossfire setup, 2 laing D5's, the cabling from the chasis top for eSata, audio, USB etc adds to the bulk you need to squeeze in the side. I did it but its not pretty and I had to hide a shed load of cables at the back of the res and fan controller.

4: Introduction of another 7950. Bought another 7590 on a whym one day while I was sat in the airport lounge browsing OCUK !!! Damn you Gibbo for your daily deals !!!!!!!

Overall I am pleased with the result, the only thing I am disappointed with is the lack of braided PSU cables. I measure up for every modular psu I could find on OCUK and other etailers, but the clearance in the bottom is tight and with a modular PSU unlikely that you would get it in next to the bottom rad.

Closing notes:

Photo's to come soon

also have notice that idle temps on the CPU have gone up a lot while GPU idles have come down. Load temps on CPU @4.4 (its a 2500K) peak at 60 on prime torture, this is a reduction of 10° from using the H50, load temps on the 7950's running heaven bench topped out at 49. This is running at core 1000 and mem 1250. Thats 30° less and without the screaming twin frozrs.

This has been one of the longest drawn out projects I think I have ever done. The actual build only took me 3 days including leak testing. The initial parts were purchased in late Feb, but due to work and being out of the country for a damn long time, its only now that I had some down time where I could focus on building.

The CM690ii has gone up in my estimation after this build. If you take the time to plan out your parts and measure up everything before hitting buy, then this case offers some good water-cooling options.

The nightmare stories you see on the web about bleeding the air out of the koolance RP452X2 rev 1.3 are unfounded. I am running 2 x D5's in series, have the serial connector on the back but didn't bother with the bypass acrylic insert. Initial filling was tricky due to the roof rad being higher than the res, but a few cycles of the pumps takes care of that. The loop was filled within 5 mins and all air locks removed within 15. There are some micro bubbles still kicking around, but the T-Line drain port I have is capturing them slowly.

As my first venture in the word of watercooling I was actually surprised at how easy it was to build. I had nightmares about bricking video cards and cpus while mounting the blocks, but it was really easy stuff.

 

[clone]

Nice build log mate cant wait for piccys to follow how do you find the koolance fittings as im looking to buy some for my build.

Glad to hear the koolance rez was easy to bleed as ive got the RP-452X2 Dual 5.25 Rev 2.0.

 

[wildman]

SO now for the pics. They aren't good quality , I got my A700 back from repiar and couldn't be arsed to set up properly to take them so was basically point and shoot

Pic 1 - the Rig

Note the birds nest of cables behind the drive rack. No matter what I did it just ended up in chaos, When I bundled them with ties the rear panel wouldn't fit. SO unfortunately it is as it is. The next step is to get a window cut in the side panel. However the window will end before the drive cage so asthetically they will be out of sight and out of mind !. The strip at the bottom is a UV strip I tried to salvage from an old rig, but lo and behold its knackered too. So I am waiting on the new lighting to come before I take some 'dark shots' Coolant is Mayhems UV pastel White

Pic 2 - into the roof

RS240 roof mounted with fans in pul in the chassis cavity

Pic 3 - Ghetto mount of the 120 rad.

As you can see the clearance to the case back from the RS240 is too tight to get the 120 in . So its mounted externally with a Gt1850 bolted on the back in push. Geeting a fan guard with filter on this to keep dust down and prevent and digit amputations !!!

Pic 4 - Koolance 380i block with bitspower 45° fittings.

Tubing is Masterkleer 1/2" ID - 5/8" OD (13-16mm) Clear

Pic 5 - Res and fan controller

Small air pocket there in left chamber. This is the inlet. I am guessing all the microbubbles are coming out to play. I was goign to top off, but for now as I may aswell leave it. Outlet is in the bottom of chmaber 2, so no chance of the air getting sucked in and chamber 2 is full to the brim.

Work still to do.

1. Try and do something with spaghetti junction - success is doubtfull only saving grace is the cables are not in the air flow path
2. Filter and grill the rear fan
3. UV lighting on case interior
4. Potentially get a laser cut rad grill for the SR1 in the bottom - jury still out
5. Send side panel off to get window cut and mounted

will post more pics once the aesthetics are all squared away

 

[wildman]

Nice build log mate cant wait for piccys to follow how do you find the koolance fittings as im looking to buy some for my build.

Glad to hear the koolance rez was easy to bleed as ive got the RP-452X2 Dual 5.25 Rev 2.0.

I was actually quite impressed with the quality of the finish on the koolance compression fittings. They were actually pretty easy to work with and to get a tight fit on the tubing was easy.

At the price point they sit on i'd rate them in almost the same league as the bitspower fittings I used.

 

[GoogalyMoogaly]

I've used that case for watercooling and I know it's quite small once you start!
I had the same problem with cables behind the drive bays!

I think you've done a good job.

you managed to keep it much tidier than I did and you got more stuff in there too!

Spoiler

Colour-wise mines a complete joke, but once it was done I didn't really look at it. I think you've got a much better colour scheme going on.

 

[wildman]

I've used that case for watercooling and I know it's quite small once you start!
I had the same problem with cables behind the drive bays!

I think you've done a good job.

you managed to keep it much tidier than I did and you got more stuff in there too!

Colour-wise mines a complete joke, but once it was done I didn't really look at it. I think you've got a much better colour scheme going on.

cheers mate.

I think if coolermaster made the the cavity between the rear panel and the chassis just 0.5 to 1cm wider this case would be a sweet ass platform for someone wanting to break into watercooling.

 

[GoogalyMoogaly]

I see they've recently announced the CM 690 III.
Looks like an improvement, not sure about the space behind the mobo tray though.

 

[wildman]

a pic I left out

heatkiller blocks, bridge and backplates, and the drain i fitted. The assembly is a bitspower T-Block into a male-male G1/4" rotary fitting with a bitspower 45° fitting and koolance compressions going into a bitspower stop valve. The tubing goes out to the back of the case. Only downside is I have to have the case on its back when I drain.

Was going to drill a hole in the floor of the case and plump the drain there, but simply ran out of real estate in the case to fit it.

When i look at the loop I get the feeling its a bit restrictive due to all the angled fittings. Initial tests show its performing well though. Cranked the 2500K up to 4.8 with 1.32 vcore and ran prime. CPU temps topped out at 63°. GPU temps on heaven are just under 50. Evidence suggests its doing its job.

 

[wildman]

new lighting has arrived, also got a new SSD as the current one is only 40gb and running low.

small annoying problem identified..... I have got some kind of coil whine or electrical interference. When moving the mouse you can hear buzzing. I think its coming from the TX850. Researching on the net reveal sits quite common for people running corsair PSU's. Its intermitent so maybe t will go away when the PSU has cycled a few times ?

Tried all kinds of power settings in Windows and BIOS to resolve but it won't go away. Its annoying but bearable as when I am gaming you can't here it over the sound, but its kind of twisting my melons as I know its there in the background.

Solution is of course to change out the PSU, but thats akin to amputating your leg when you break a toe !!!!!!!!!!