[Sponsored] Defiant

OK, so a couple of months ago I was watching some videos and getting my general nerd fix in when I seen a new case, the Raven RV-02. Now this case was not bad, had some great potential and was very unique. I liked it, but I didn't need it. Then they changed it a bit and came out with the Evolution edition and it was very appealing. Unfortunately though I had already picked up a Phantom and put some majorly Xsessive work into the build. I was happy with my creation, but there was only one problem.



Silverstone released a limited edition white Raven and I could not help myself. I made sure to pick one up before they were all gone. With case in house I had started planning my next build. I was going to wait until Intel released the 2011 chips until I looked at release dates and was not expecting anything soon. I was kind of in need of another computer, but mostly another project to work on.



I decided to wait a bit to see what would be coming out in the near future and started doing some research, trying to find something special for this next build. I first got into contact with BitsPower to see if there was a way I could get some white fittings and connectors. Unfortunately they are not making any ATM, but I hope they do in the future. With all the white cases I have been seeing lately I think there is a good chance. So instead I went with black fittings and accessories.



I can hear the thoughts running through people's heads now, "GASP! He's going to put liquid cooling in probably the best AIR cooled case on the market?!"

Oh yes, Defiant I am.



After stripping the case of all its plastic bits I can really get to work. With only the fittings and general parts in hand I began to fit the radiators, reservoir and pump into the case. With a little Dremel work I was able to get the fill port into the top of the case. I did a few mock ups to see what was needed to make this project a bit different.









So I was having some fun and getting quite a few things worked out. I knew that once the rest of the hardware started to arrive plans would change, but for now I knew one thing. The sleeve that I had got was not good, not at all. I had not done much sleeve work, so I felt a bit foreign with it. Best thing to do though, research.

After looking through many builds and forums I came to the conclusion that the only sleeve that could possible live up to what I wanted was from Germany. I placed an order with MDPC-X and patiently waited for the sleeve to show up, and after a couple of weeks I got my package in the mail.







At first glance I knew that this was what I was looking for. Always did like the illustrations that Nils does, but the sleeve is truly the best out there. So I picked out a NZXT Hale 90 1000w power supply, because its white of course, but also I felt a little headroom was needed in this build and needed a reliable power supply since I would be voiding the warranty.







That is one large mess of wires connected to my nice white PSU. Two CPU eight pin connections, one twenty four pin connection, one PCIe with a six pin and eight pin plugs, and one string of four SATA connections. This was going to be some serious sleeve work, and work it was.



I removed a few of the hardwired connections so that I would be able to fit the newly sleeved lines back into the box, and called it done after what seemed like forever. I'm not sure how long it really took me, but I averaged it out to about 20 mins per wire. Hopefully I don't decide to do white sleeve in the near future.

With the power supply back together I had to really figure out what I would be using in the rest of the build. After poking around for a while I decided on the hardware that I would use based on what I was able to put liquid on. I did not want to just do the CPU and video card, mostly because that was too easy.

I did a bit of poking around and after a bit of work EK Water Blocks set me up with all the blocks I would be needing for the build.











Shiny

Okey dokey! Water blocks, check.

Next: Hardware









Things are really starting to shape up around here.

After receiving my first delivery of hardware the first thing I did was put it all together and make sure it worked. Never a good thing to go voiding warranties, and then finding out that it doesn't work.



Good news! everything worked on the first try. I did some load testing and overclocking to make sure that everything was working proper. After a few hours of playing I decided that I had my fill and began to disassemble for water block installation on the motherboard.

I was really pleased with the look of the EK blocks. I had read about the problems that were arising with the nickel plating, but after close inspection(as close as I could get anyway) I was unable to find any problems with the blocks I had received.







I didn't have the video card at the time, but I just could not let new hardware sit and collect dust while awaiting the arrival of other parts though. No, I decided it was in my best interest to get some hardware installed and see how it would be looking and working.

I mounted the motherboard in the case and laid out a temporary loop so that I could do some more work and have a little fun with overclocking while I was waiting to be able to get the rest of the hardware I was needing.



A friend of mine is a machinist at a large company here but was able to squeeze in some time to make me some handy mounts for the EK reservoir I was using.







I decided to use the extra Feser One that I had from my last build so that I could play with the new toys for a while. The green looked good in the shiny new Tygon so I let it leak check for a solid 24 hrs since I was in no hurry to get this project done.



After finding no issues with the loop I installed the power supply and got to work on some overclocking. After working my way up I finally topped out at 5.3ghz with 1.6Vcore. I felt reasonably safe at this voltage with the water blocks, but I would not be running it that high for extended periods of time.

After playing with some overclocking there was not much else I was able to do with the computer at the time, try as it might, the little 5670 was no match for..... pretty much anything, and after some poking around on forums I found that the Tygon tube that I had used was prone to leaching I decided it would probably be a good idea to drain the system and check my blocks. The CPU block was already beginning to gather some buildup so it was a good idea I think. I needed to do some painting anyway, there was just too much black inside the new white case.





I am using thin radiators and low speed fans in this build so I made sure to mask off the fins of the radiators to keep away unnecessary paint that would cause higher temperatures.





I replaced the stock heatsinks onto the motherboard and had a H50 on standby so I would be able to test the video card when it arrived.



I had underestimated the amount of sleeve I needed to sleeve all the wires so I had to order some more before I got the rest of my parts. I also wanted to change to white tube and clear coolant, so I figured that the best time is now. I placed my orders so that the packages would arrive around the same time at least within a few days of each other. Somehow I had managed to order everything so that it all arrived on the same day and I was able to get right back to work on this thing.







After testing to make sure that the video card was in proper working order everything came back apart to get all the water blocks installed for the last time.

The video card takes awhile to prepare for the water block, but the new EK block was very easy to install and the back plate made the new card very appealing.







After staring at the inside of the case for a while I had finally figured out the loop order that I would use to make it the most efficient, effective and attractive that I was able to. I filled the loop to begin leak checking while I finished up the cable sleeve.



Now I am no perfectionist, but I really do not like to have wires everywhere inside or on the back of the motherboard try so I took great care in the sleeve and wire management so that everything would be accessible, but I would also be able to finish it. After work with a soldering iron, sleeve, heatshrink and some wire management clips I was able to tuck all the wires out of the way, but be able to get to any of them if needed.







And what is a beautiful new rig without some lighting to show off the goodies.













As you look at these pics you might say to yourself, "I thought he said he was using clear coolant?" Well I did, but unfortunately when I took the loop apart to clean it, I did not flush out the 360mm radiator.... Not sure how I missed that one, but I will be changing out the coolant to something new. It currently isn't on the market, but when it becomes available I will not be hesitating to get some in this machine.

After some overclocking I did a couple of benches with 3dmark 11 and Vantage. Nothing extreme, but I'm very pleased with the numbers.

3dmark 11 P7927

and

3dmark Vantage P31322

With the thin radiators temperatures rise rather quickly, but it can turn out some good numbers. I was able to play video games for hours without anything overheating. I turned it back a notch to 4.8 for general use, but the best part is that it is sooooo quiet.