[Upgrade Log] 680 Sli Phantom

Hey everyone!

Back in early May I embarked into my first foray of water cooling adventure. I took many months studying the do's and don'ts of basic water cooling, and was proud to call my first build a success. The computer I water cooled, however, was already a little over a year old and my thirst for some brand spanking new 680's has reached its peak. Its upgrade time!

Current specs:

Hardware:

Case - NZXT Phantom Black
Motherboard - ASUS P8P67 EVO REV 3.0
CPU - i5 2500K
RAM - 2 X 4GB Corsair XMS 8GB
GPU - Single EVGA GTX 580 3GB edition
PSU - Corsair HX 750 Modular 80 silver certified

Current Water Cooling Components:

CPU Block - Koolance CPU 370
GPU Block - EK FC580 Nickel
Radiators - 1x XSPC EX120mm (mounted to the exhaust)
- 1x XSPC EX240mm (mounted in roof)
- 1x Black Ice GTX Extreme 120mm (on bottom)
Tubing - Primochill LRT UV Blue
Fittings - Bitspower Compression Fittings
Reservoir - Koolance RP 452X2 Dual Bay Reservoir
Coolant - Distilled Water

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THE PLAN

Besides adding two GTX 680's into my loop to replace my single GTX 580, there are a few other things I will be changing up. I will be replacing my current RAM with 2 X 4G sticks of Corsair Dominators (so that I many water cool them), replacing the plasticizer prone Primochill tubing with Durelene PVC tubing (and Mayhems Clear Blue UV Dye), and placing an XSPC RX 240 Radiator in the bottom of the case instead of the Black Ice GTX 120mm that currently resides there(*). I will also be replacing all of my NZXT fans with the new Corsair AF/SP series fans.

*In order to fix the 240mm XSPC rad in the bottom of the Phantom, the main hard drive cage has to go away. Originally, I wanted to remove it completely and mount my 2TB WD Black Caviar HDD to the back of the Motherboard tray similar to the way Mybadomen (User who created the NZXT Venom build) has his. (http://www.overclock.net/t/1185625/project-venom-nzxt-phantom-build (Seventh picture down on first page)) I am not 100% sure on how to go about mounting it like that though, so instead I have just decided to take a dremel to my hard drive cage and eliminate all the drive bays save for the one I actually use.

Computer Specs After Upgrade:

Hardware:

Case - NZXT Phantom Black
Motherboard - ASUS P8P67 EVO REV 3.0
CPU - i5 2500K
RAM - 2 X 4GB Corsair Dominator 8GB (NEW)
GPU - 2X EVGA GTX 680's (NEW)
PSU - Corsair HX 750 Modular 80 silver certified

Water Cooling Components:

CPU Block - Koolance CPU 370
GPU Blocks - Aquacomputer Aquagrafx 680 Nickel
RAM Block - Bitspower Galaxy Freezer DIMM4 Block
Radiators - 1x XSPC EX120mm (mounted to the exhaust)
- 1x XSPC EX240mm (mounted in roof)
- 1x XSPC RX240mm (mounted on bottom)
Tubing - Durelene PVC Tubing
Fittings - Bitspower Compression Fittings
Reservoir - Koolance RP 452X2 Dual Bay Reservoir
Coolant - Distilled Water w/ Mayhems Clear UV Blue

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Well....that is the plan. Pretty much all of the parts have already been ordered, and I just await their delivery.

Some photos of my rig in its current state, for reference.

So I got my first bunch of packages yesterday from performance PC's. Got the water blocks, back plates, mayhem's dyes, and arctic mx-4.







One of the Aquacomputer blocks did come with this sort of residue on the block though. I'm not really sure what to make of it, any suggestions? I don't think its anything to seriously worry about, it just struck me as kind of odd.



I could not get this shot into focus for my life, but its still quite easy to make out the residue.





One of the Aquacomputer back plates i received also has what looks like oxidation, though i'm not completely sure.



That's all for now. Still waiting for my packages from Newegg, Sidewinder, and FrozenCPU.

W00t! Got another box today, from Newegg this time.



Contents included my two GTX 680's, lots of Corsair fans, and my Dominator RAM.





My work area is quite a mess now. After taking apart my entire loop and trying to find places to put all the components, boxes, and unopened parts, it began to look like a hurricane hit the room







And then just some air testing to make sure nothing came DOA.



Tomorrow I will hopefully get the last of the boxes, and i can begin putting the loop together.