[Build Log] Project Zeus

So, i have decided to put together a water cooled pc for myself. And where better to document it than OVERCLOCK.net!


Main thing that I had in mind was that i dont want to go over 1500 € with this build. Thats including the PC components and water cooling parts. I hope it will be interesting nevertheless.

CASE: CM 690 II Nvidia Edition
MBO: ASRock P67 Extreme 4
CPU: Intel i5 2500K
RAM: G:SKILL Sniper 2x4 GB
GPU: Gainward GTX 570 GS GLH (will try to reuse the part of the original cooler for mosfets and ram and mount the universal water block directly on it)
HDD: 2x WD Sata Blue 500GB & 1 WD Sata Green 1 TB
1 NZXT fan controler and lots of fans(6-7)


Now for cooling i chose EKWaterblocks

EK-Supreme HF - Full EN (Nickel)
EK-VGA Supreme HF - Acetal+EN (Nickel)
EK-Multioption RES X2 - 150 Basic
EK-CoolStream RAD XTC (420)
EK-PSC Fitting 12mm - G1/4 Black
Anti-Kink Smartcoils 16 mm BLACK
Thermal PAD - 1mm (60x50x1mm)
EK-Extender G1/4 (EN)
EK-PSC Adapter 90° G1/4 Black
EK-PSC Adapter 45° G1/4 Black
Laing DDC-1T 12V DC Pump with a top(i have it already and i figured i can use it for this
12/16 mm green tubing

As U can see i m going for black/green theme here and i hope it will look nice.

All the parts are coming sometimes next week and than i will post pictures of it all.
The plan is to mount the rad outside on top of the case with minimal modding(just a few holes in the mesh), pump on the bottom of the case and res to be visible trough the side panel. It should look nice with green neon lights.

If i manage to do so my loop will be
RAD-CPU-GPU-RES-PUMP

So there is some setbacks with customs and the parts r not here yet so i just wanted to post something...
So here is the loop layout

I will not be integrating universal GPU block in to the plastic part of the shroud on this card. I ll just mount in on to the passive cooler that covers the whole card and cools memory and MOSFETS.

Will be using THIS without THIS part... and i ll mount Coolermasters 9.2 cm fan on the card also.
U will see it soon cause i just saw that the parts have gone trough the customs and soon will be here!!!

Sorry but i cant upload pics directly in to the thread no matter the size i use. There is something wrong with overclock.net...

Finaly i found a way to upload pics directly to the post... apparenly u can't upload pics using Opera...

 

So here is the finished buid:

 

Outside of the case...

 

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inside the case...

 

 

my favorite part of the build, GPU cooling 

 

 

 

 

 

I think it looks damn good all black! Who needs a backplate when one can have a frontplate that cools memory and VRM?

 

 

I haven't modded the case too much, but as i said previously my goal was to put together a gaming watercooled PC for under 1500€. And i think i did a pretty good job considering the budget limit(spent ~ 1200€ on this PC without the monitor, keyboard and mouse). Soon i will post more pics and also the prices of the components.

U r so right! Those fans r the reason I finally decided to W/C my PC. They where so loud and all of the reviews never mentioned it like a big problem.


I have no way of measuring MOSFET temps, but I can tell u that they r cooler than before (for sure they couldn't get any worse)...At least the top of the card where mosfets r is. Also if u r wondering I am keeping that 92 mm fan @ 30-40 % in afterburner depending on GPU temps. No way to hear it when it s thet low.
I just used a mini 4 pin PWM connector from some old GPU and soldered it on to the fan so i can connect it to the GPU 4 pin connector.

On gpu i get usually get 25-38 C. When it is idle for some time it even goes as low as 22 C @ 18-20 C ambient. It is actually cooler than with a full cover block. These universal blocks from EK r beasts. to EK!

And a screenshot to back it up

In that pic u can see the sticker that protects the block and u need to peal it off before u mount the block.

It was just a test mount to be sure i got it all right, no thermal paste and stuff in that pic yet...

And to answer ur question:

I had to do some minor modding...

1. I couldnt use the mounting mechanism that EK provides with the block. With it block was not touching the GPU and screws that go trough the PCB where too short to go trough the shroud and connect.

2. Screws i used for the fan did not fit the fan holes perfectly because of the position of the holes on PCB and shroud so i had to improvise a bit.


I just went to a hardware store and got 10 M 2.5x25 mm screws, some(20) metal and polyamid washers for M 2.5 screws and bunch of M 2.5 nuts.

I used only 6 screws at the end. 4 for the GPU block and 2 for fan mount.

Only thing that i used from the mounting mechanism that EK provided r the springs.

If u look really carefully u can see that screws go tough the PCB, shroud and block and hold it all together firmly.

There r holes for M 2.5 screws in the shroud and they hold really good so there is no need to put nuts after the shroud and before the block, but I did it anyway cause it looked good.


For the fan mount as u can see in the pics i also used M 2.5 x 25 mm screws and combination of washers for M 2.5 and M 3.5 screws (M 3.5 washers r a bit broader) . One of the screws goes trough the hole of the fan and it could keep the fan in place by it self. But just to be on the safe side i used a second screw to hold the fan.

If u want i can post more pics of the GPU in a few days i just need to get a camera form a friend.

And yea the temps r really great, it newer goes over 40 C, even when running Prime95 and GPU OCCT at the same time for hours...
And thats some serious heat !!!