[Build Log] Captivity - Now With CaseLabs!

Here's the picture from Dwood.



Test bench progress update:



The test bench from Dwood is ready for painting...



Good news!
My camera has been fixed so I can add pictures yet again. This next week is a pretty big week for my build, I have Cougar fans coming in by Thursday, Monsoon fittings here around Tuesday, and the test bench from Dwood will be shipped out Monday or Tuesday.

First off, some pictures of the new XSPC EX420 radiator.





Some "spare" fittings I'll be using once the test bench arrives.



Update

The Monsoon fittings all arrived today, thanks again to Performance PCs. Sidewinder ended out being out of the Koolance 24V pump controllers (even though their website says in-stock) so I ended up buying one from Performance PCs - the only place that actually has them in stock. Anyhow, below are pictures of the fittings.



The fittings are packaged very well in a simple box with "Monsoon" on the front...



... and "Don't be a tool" on the back.



The inside packaging is a firm foam type holder for the fittings and the tightening tool.



The fittings themselves are very visually appealing in my opinion and have a soft textured feel to them.

Small Update

I got the Monsoon fittings installed on all of the components that will go into the test bench if it ever arrives...









The fittings have been great so far. No leaks and they look great imo.

The test bench from Dwood is shipping out tomorrow, and I should be getting the PMP-450S pump, fans, and the pump controller all tomorrow as well.

Here's a picture for the completed test bench. (Mine's on the far right)



The Cougar fans, PMP-450S pump, and 24V pump controller are all here. Tomorrow, the G1/4 top for the pump, as well as even more white Monsoon fittings, will be here. The test bench has been completed, but due to packaging issues is delayed a bit, update on that soon.

The Koolance 24V pump controller comes in very plain packaging...



The controller itself is very simple to set up and easy to operate. It has a single fan-type header, a molex connector, and a dial to adjust the voltage.



The PMP-450S pump is very high powered, especially compared to the MCP655-B I used previously. When set on 24V it's almost silent to my ears and pushes a lot of water.



The Cougar fans look great on the EX420 radiator with the white Monsoon fittings imo.



The TripT 'Roids test bench came in today and is looking great. It came wrapped in layer after layer of bubble wrap so it was protected well. While the motherboard block got here, it doesn't fit so I'll need to order another.



The bench is well painted and constructed and the cover looks great. This is fresh out of the box.



The cover is removed, showing the test bench inside.



Beginning to install hardware.



Everything's installed!



The "mesh" side of the test bench cover. This allows the dual 420mm radiators to get air in.



The PSU side. Just enough room for the power supply to exhaust hot air and room for the plug and switch.



The 5.25" bay side. I'm not using any 5.25" components, so I took the bay out.


My Thoughts:
The test bench is great quality, with very durable construction. The cover, when screwed into the sides of the test bench, is able to lift the weight of the bench, as well as the components inside which is a great feature. Installation was a breeze with no issues and all parts of the test bench can be removed or replaces as needed. The only issue I had was with routing the usb / monitor cables with the cover on as there's no opening for these parts.



The fan mount (left) and the 5.25" bays (right). There are a ton of mounting holes all over the test bench and everything's very custom.



The PMP-450S pump with XSPC pump reservoir.



GTX 680 with XSPC Razor water block.



One of the two 420mm radiators, with cougar fans.



The PSU area, as well as the 3.5" HDD mount and dual 420mm radiators on the sides.



My great ( ) cable management. This is where the 5.25" bays would go if installed.



The FrozenQ reservoir looks amazing on this test bench.



Here's a view of the PCI slot holder. It's adjustable.







Installation was a breeze, I simply removed the previous water block, removed any TIM left on the CPU, rotated the direct 2011 water block to the direction I wanted, and installed the screws. No leaks, very simple installation.







Temperature results were pretty great. A comparison between the 5Noz and Direct 2011 blocks is below. (The temperatures below are averages at full load over a 10 minute period)

5Noz:
CPU - 62C
Core 0 - 62C
Core 1 - 63C
Core 2 - 62C
Core 3 - 62C
Overall Average - 62.2C

Direct 2011:
CPU - 62C
Core 0 - 58C
Core 1 - 59C
Core 2 - 60C
Core 3 - 60C
Overall Average - 59.8C

Drop - 2.4C

These preliminary results are very promising, I plan on doing a lot more testing to see how much flowrates impact this block.



First, I switched out the GTX 680 for dual GTX 560TI 448 core GPUs, then I switched to a single 7950.



Next, I sleeved the Fractal-Design PSU and put it in a temporary location (deep in the bowels of the 'Roids bench).





Since my MSI X79A-GD65 (8D) motherboard died, I replaced it with an EVGA X79 FTW motherboard.