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[Build Log] Inchoate | 56k beware

22K views 173 replies 32 participants last post by  luciddreamer124 
#1 ·
Update: 2011-12-12

Well haven't been here in a while, so Might as well clean it up huh?

Current Hardware: 2011-12-12
Computer parts:
1 x GA-Z68X-UD7-B3
3 x EVGA GeForce GTX 580 3072MB Hydro Copper 2
3 x 2GB Corsair DDR3 1600
1 x OBSIDIAN 650D
1 x I7 2600K
1 x AX1200W
2 x Mushkin Chronos Delux 240Gb RAID 0
1 x ASUS Essence ST + Sennheiser PC350
3 x ASUS VE278Q Black 27"
1 x Saitek Cyborg Keyboard
1 x Saitek R.A.T. 9
1 x Saitek X65F
1 x EVGA Power boost
1 x Ergotech triple 30" monitor mount

Water cooling:
6 x Noiseblocker NB-Multiframe M12-S3HS 120mmx25mm Ultra Silent Fan
4 x Noiseblocker NB-BlackSilentPro PK-3 140mm x 25mm Ultra Quiet Fan
2 x NZXT FN-200 200mm x 30mm High Performance Case Fan
1 x Sunbeam 30W Rheosmart 6 Channel Smart Fan Controller
1 x DD UV Black 1/2IN 3/4OD tubing
1 xProlimatech PK-1
1 x Koolance INS-FM17N Coolant Flow Meter
1 x Flow Meter Fequency Adapter
1 x Koolance RP-452X2
2 x MCP655
1 x Mindchill's TEC waterblock and 12v controller
2 x VL4 (one male one female)
1 x Black Ice GT Stealth 280 Radiator - Black
1 X Black Ice GT Stealth 120 Radiator - Black
1 x 200mm Phobya Xtreme Radiator
3 x Bitspower G1/4" 90-Degree Dual Rotary 1/2" ID x 3/4" OD Compression Fitting
7 x Bitspower G1/4" 45-Degree Dual Rotary 1/2" ID x 3/4" OD Compression Fitting
7 x Bitspower G1/4" Regular Dual Rotary 1/2" ID x 3/4" OD Compression Fitting
4 x Koolance Dual VID Connector - Adjustable 1 Slot Spacing
1 x Koolance 280 Shroud
2 x Silverstone 140mm Fan Filters
1 x Lian-li 120mm fan filter

First iteration
Boxes in the garage that had arrived during my absence.
450
Unpacked and displayed.
450
Everything taken off, I just put the PSU there to see how it looked.
450
Front side, I drilled holes later here to fit the Phoyba rad.
450
Taking apart the NZXT fan to paint it black.
450
Fan painted black...
450
The work space. It got cluttered and scattered after about 3 hours into the build...
450
CPU installed...
450
As you can see those compression fittings are TIGHT!
700
A shot with most of the things loaded in. It was about 2 AM last night when I took this pic and went to bed...
450
Here we see my first leak testing on two gtx's and an ugly looking sli loop. I was proud of it none the least. And when I had only two cards, well temps were ok. But I wanted more!
450

Second iteration
So I read around and 5760X1080 hit the mark. I needed three GPU's and 2D surround. I bought the third and got some SLI connectors as I knew that tubing and barbs were no longer an option. This is the second leak test one month after I had built and used it. Not much change here.

450

Third iteration
Now the fun stuff, though not finished...
I wanted Push Pull on EVERYTHING, and as we know the 650D is lacking in terms of space for the top rad. I also had a problem with heat as my two other rads were redundant due to the front 200mm pulling in hot air. So I devised a plan to have all the rads pull in and make myself a custom side panel with 4 exhausts. Calculate CFM and make sure I had positive air pressure to reduce dust. Get dust filters on all intakes. I also wanted to lap my CPU (I was getting courageous at that point). So without further ado here it is.

Computer stripped out almost completely.
450
Rear Exhaust tapped. In retrospect, I might have gotten away with just leaving the grill there. But I'll be putting a custom grill in its place. I'm hoping it'll help with noise.
450
Most important part tapped Top grill.
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Front 200mm grill. After consideration and a couple beers, I decided not to cut it out due to structural integrety (gotta love Star Trek). I decided to keep the NZXT fan and do a push pull. The thing is NZXT in their omniscient ways decided to go with a not so bright mounting standard. So the holes needed to mount the fan and the rad would have put the holes terribly close to the edge. I decided against the cut. I also have no noise problems as other 650D users have stated...
450
So I contacted BitsPower for this. They have two designs for thier rotary compression fittings, and I gather the longer ones are the older models. I have two of those fittings that were sent to me brand new from FrozenCPU and the nickel plating is starting to flake off at the edge of the nozel after only 2 months of use. I'll be sending them a picture of both tonight.
450
Block cleaned off from TIM
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CPU is full of Shin Etsu.
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Cleaned!!!
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Sorry, old P&S Cannon A560. But the lapping begins. This is after like 15 minutes on 400
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After 30 minutes on 400 still.
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20 mins on 800 did the following...
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1200 for 15 mins.
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Forgot to take a picture at 2000 grit. But this is 2500 grit about half an hour later.
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I thought I had taken more pictures of this, but I guess I didn't. Here's the EK MB block. not a great angle...
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Here's the cut out for the top grill...
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A view from below.
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I messed up the rear a little as it was my first time cutting with a dremel... but it works for me.
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A view from outside.
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The koolance shroud fits!!!
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Close up with rad and fans mounted.
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And what I have done so far. Still lots of work but the toughest is done I think.
450

Shot with flash, it was dark in the room... =(
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One little corner
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Second angle
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Dark shot
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AND NOW, FOR ANOTHER ITERATION IF NOOBNESS AND MODDING!
What follows is rated PG. These pictures contain some scenes of metal brutality and little to no awesomeness. Viewer discretion is advised.

So I started the side panel after I got someone with a press drill to get me the holes, makes for a cleaner job. Also prepping to cut the panel.
450
Four hours later. After reading the instructions, re cutting to actually fit, finding out I couldn't get the molding to fit on the panel in one piece. To compound the whole thing I screwed up the modling cuts. I'll be getting some black silicone to fill in the gaps in the corners to cover it up and make a little more tidy. My thumbs are killin' me. Seriously, I thought the worst was over by screwing in those compression fittings. They should send a red warning card in the bag with a bulging thumb. Uhhg!
450

Here's a pic of the 5.25 and a dremel. The little plastic lip made putting in the rheobus a pain. But it made it impossible to fit the lian li slim DVD bracket in. So bye bye plastic (it doesn't show when the drives are in).
450
Here's a pic before the spill, with the UV CCFL's.
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Did my very first sleeving job.
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I messed up a little, but it was my first try. I'm happy with the results.
450

Here are some pics I took tonight of what the rig currently looks like with UV.

Door On with CCFL's on
IMG_0323.jpg

Top view
IMG_0322.jpg

Top view with door off
IMG_0321.jpg

Another angle
IMG_0318.jpg


I bought two invertless CCFL's to have a stealth mode. That way I could turn off the inverter and only have two UV CCFL's and get less light within the case.

Stealth mode
IMG_0320.jpg

And another pic
IMG_0319.jpg

Got a new water block.

This has a custom display, and a custom blue LCD AND a custom blue top for the block.

Newblock.png

newblock2.png

newblock5.png

The display has a Humidity sensor (H), Ambient temperature sensor (A), Block temperature sensor (B), Duty Cycle (C) (how much it's working in %), dew point calculator (D) (That's my favorite) and Target temperature which is controlled by the knob.
newblcok3.png

Newblock4.png

Fourth Iteration
What it looks like outside when you live close to the 53rd on a November afternoon.
450

Pick of the acrylic plate installation for the controller.
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LCD screen...
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Pic of the leak testing with new tubing and CPU block.
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Full view pick at 800 ISO, I drank too much coffe and didn't take time to setup a proper pick with the tripod. But it gives you a good idea.
450

More to come!
 
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59
#2 ·
Grats on the first build. Only advice is to really test out your watercooling off your componets which I'm sure your well aware of. I didn't want to make that plunge on my first build but my next for sure as I better understand what works as well as can truly visualize on how things will piece together.

You did order an OS or at least have something in the hopper?

Only difference I would have done would have probably bumped my memory over 6 gig but that's just my opinion.

Welcome to OCN and make sure you take pics of that build.

nubby out.
 
#3 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by ssgtnubb;13411584
Grats on the first build. Only advice is to really test out your watercooling off your componets which I'm sure your well aware of. I didn't want to make that plunge on my first build but my next for sure as I better understand what works as well as can truly visualize on how things will piece together.

You did order an OS or at least have something in the hopper?

Only difference I would have done would have probably bumped my memory over 6 gig but that's just my opinion.

Welcome to OCN and make sure you take pics of that build.

nubby out.
Yeah I have a copy of Win 7 64bit Ultimate.

The ram is dual channel so I got 4 sticks of 2gb, which bumps it to 8.

2 x 2GB x 2 GSKILL DDR3 2133

As for WC, I have an Alienware now with a H50 I think (it looks very much alike). So I know how things work, I just never built one myself.
 
#5 ·
I only used it for a couple of days, my motherboard crashed on me so during my RMA I bought some Arctic 5 cause I didn't want to chance have the H70 open to air for a week and think it could still keep my cp chilly.

I only have a slight OC, 3.6 and I've never been over 60c on all cores running prime over night.
 
#7 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by atennisplayah;13412341
respect due for jumping into full custom watercooling rig build for first time. Good luck sir
Not full custom, I cheated a bit with the GTX580 as it comes with a waterblock pre installed by EVGA. Though the thing that sold me over getting a gtx580 and putting an EK waterblock was the warrenty that came with the 580.

Yeah I guess I'll find out how that paste works, but it seems to rank up there.

I can't sleep after this purchase, and I have two weeks of waiting before I can even set eyes on it.
 
#9 ·
So I bought the 200mm Phobya from aquatuning. They say they will receive a new shipment on May 20th (which means a couple days later for shipping).

FrozenCPU has already shipped everything else and it's already on its way home. Yes!

Newegg Had a problem with processing, and should be shipping today, which means reception should be some time next week.

This is looking good!
 
#10 ·
Added a second pump to the loop. That way when I get the second GTX580, I'll have plenty of head pressure and flow.

I also go the EK head for the 655 that I'll mount on the back of the case. So theoretically it'll look like this in the end.

Res > MCP655 > Phobya 200mm > GTX580 > (SOON) GTX580 > HW Stealth 120mm Rad > MCP655 > Koolance CPU-370 block > HW labs Stealth 280 Rad > Res

That works right... not overkill??
 
#15 ·
WOW! First build & Water cooling? I'm sure you did some mad research! Good luck and keep us posted!
 
#18 ·
Alright.

PICS!!!
Boxes in the garage that had arrived during my absence.

IMG_1337.jpg


Unpacked and displayed.

IMG_1341.jpg


Everything taken off, I just put the PSU there to see how it looked.

IMG_1342.jpg


Front side, I drilled holes later here to fit the Phoyba rad.

IMG_1343.jpg


Taking apart the NZXT fan to paint it black.

IMG_1344.jpg


Fan painted black...

IMG_1345.jpg


The work space. It got cluttered and scattered after about 3 hours into the build...

IMG_1346.jpg


CPU installed...

IMG_1347.jpg


As you can see those compression fittings are TIGHT!

IMG_1351.jpg


A shot with most of the things loaded in. It was about 2 AM last night when I took this pic and went to bed...

IMG_1357.jpg

Build Problems:

-140.2 rad doesn't fit up top. I had to take out the SATA 3.0 out from the top of the case. The end where the fittings are would hit the end of the sata hotswap casing. Bad news is the top that covers the hole comes with the hot swap bay. Not cool, I have a hole in the top of the case which I'll have to cover up some way.

-The pump didn't fit on the rear of the case like I wanted, so I took out the HDD rack and installed it at the bottom. Doesn't bother me much cause I'll be using my ssd. I can stick it just about anywhere, I might even consider getting a 5.25" bay HDD adapter so I can hide it and secure it.

-Making holes for the 200mm Phobya was a pain. The little bleeding screw at the top (or bottom) was a pita. Never the less I got it installed. The front cover will keep things nice and clean... =P

Next:

-Alright, the easy part for me is done (manual labour I guess). The harder part is yet to come. In order of difficulty: Pluggin' in wires to the proper places, wire management, overclockin'.

I'll keep posting as I get more done!
 
#21 ·
Looks really good man. Can't wait to start my build. All I'm waiting on is a check and I'll be buying everything immediately
 
#23 ·
Quote:


Originally Posted by Rognin
View Post

So I bought a third 580. Now I'll be ready for my three screens in the near future.

Yeah 3 GTX580's 3072mb Vram... this is gonna rule!

That sounds like it's gonna be a great setup. Don't you only need 2 for 3 screen surround? 3 is gonna be nice though for sure.
 
#24 ·
Quote:


Originally Posted by jona2125
View Post

That sounds like it's gonna be a great setup. Don't you only need 2 for 3 screen surround? 3 is gonna be nice though for sure.

Yeah, saving up for 3 screens in the 300$ range each. Maybe in a month or so. I don't even know if a sata 3.0 SSD is worth the expense compared to a 2.0. My win 7 loads in >20 secs and most games are blazing fast anyways. Maybe when I have extra cash to burn at some point I'll get some. In the mean time, I also bought a R.A.T. 9 mouse with a 140X140mm magnetic filter for the top Sata 3.0 hotswap bay that I had to take out. It'll look good, easy to clean, and cover the hole.

Now's to see if those three rads can handle the folding of tri-SLI of 580's... though I don't think so. One thing is for sure however, they'll handle the games on three screens!!!

Night!
 
#25 ·
Hell yeah man that's quite a powerful gaming machine you got. I can't wait to start mine. Let me know how the R.A.T. 9 works out, I'll be getting one myself.
 
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