This is my third computer build log here on OCN. I had originally planned to wait for the Intel "Haswell" to come out before replacing my current gaming/folding rig, "The Betty", but given all the preliminary results, I'm going to update my aging i7 965EE system and wait for the Intel "Skylake" in 2015.
This build will be centered around the NZXT Switch 810 Special Edition case in gunmetal gray, and have a firearm theme to it in color. A special thanks goes out to Rickles for the name and inspiration for the color scheme.
Several of the key components have yet to be selected, and I will be more than happy to entertain suggestions for them. They should be top performers as well as look good. I plan on water cooling and over clocking this system as far as it will go for 24/7 folding operations when not killing Trolls, Zombies, and Battlemechs.
Computer Components:
Case: Switch 810 in "gunmetal gray" with a custom pedestal base by Dwood
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UP7
CPU: Intel i7 3770K
Memory: 4 sticks (16GB) of G.SKILL Trident X Series (F3-2400C10D-8GTX)
Power supply: Seasonic Platinum 1000 Watt
Video cards: 2 EVGA GTX 580 Hydro Copper 2 w/3072MB memory in SLI
Hard drives: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s
SSD drive: Samsung 840 Pro series MZ-7PD256BW 256GB
Keyboard: Microsoft Natural Ergonomic 4000
Mouse: Logitech Performance MX
Operating system: Windows 7 Professional 64-bit and Ubuntu 12.10
Cable sleeving: MDPC sleeve. Orange, Titanium Grey, and Shade 19.
Lighting: USB-LED-1 RGB LED Controller and Flexible Color Changing RGB Ribbon Flexible LED Light Strip
Water Cooling Components:
CPU block: Koolance CPU-380I Water Block
GPU blocks: Built in on the EVGA GTX 580 Hydro Copper 2 video cards.
Radiators: 1 Alphacool NexXxoS Monsta 360 Radiator and 1 XSPC RX360 Extreme Performance Radiator
Pumps/Reservoir: XSPC Twin D5 Dual Bay Reservoir/Pump Combo
Fittings: Various Bitspower G1/4 1/2" compression fittings
SLI / Radiator fittings: 2 Bitspower adjustable aqua link pipe 22-31mm
Tubing: 20 feet of Durelene PVC tubing 1/2" ID x 5/8" OD
Fans: 6 Gentle Typhoon AP-14 1450 RPM fans and 6 Cougar CF-V12H 1200RPM fans
Temperature Sensors: 2 Aquacomputer Inline Male/Female G1/4
Temperature Sensor Display: XSPC 5.25" Bay Temperature Sensor Dual Display Mount w/ 2 Thermal Star Illuminated Thermometer - Blue Light
Coolant: Distilled water
Dye: Mayhems Orange Pastel (NEW formula)
Index:
Twin D5 Dual Bay reservoir and first batch of Bitspower fittings arrive.
There is a Monsta in the house! 360 that is.
Microcenter 3770K CPU is here.
The heart of the system, the Gigabyte Z77X-UP7 motherboard and Samsung 840 Pro SSD arrive.
Start of the assembly in the gunmetal Switch 810 case.
Power supply is installed and time to paint the upper radiator orange.
Cable sleeving order placed with MDPC.
CPU waterblock and more fittings arrive.
Memory and operating system are in.
The finished orange RX360 radiator.
Test fitting of the radiator and fans.
The new DSLR camera is here!
The cable sleeving parts from Germany arrive. Bright colors to be sure.
Time to swap out the AP-14 in the upper case for orange Cougar fans.
Experimenting with Mayhem orange dye.
Trimming a Cougar fan to get the RX360 in "push/pull" mode.
When all else fails, grind the top of the case to make it all fit.
Assembling the Monsta360 radiator and fans.
Major breakthrough! Now the upper radiator color matches and all 6 fans fit beautifully.
New toys. Galaxy S3 and Galaxy Tab 2 10.1
The mystery box arrives.
The custom pedestal from Dwood is here!
Building and sleeving the pumps.
Sleeving everything else that goes into the pedestal.
The first test of the water cooling components in the pedestal.
Good news and bad news. The CPU block looks awesome but the reservoir has an internal leak. (Video)
The replacement reservoir arrives. Kudos to XSPC and Performance PCs.
Testing video of the new reservoir.
Final painting and assembly of the Dwood custom pedestal and how it looks on the Switch 810 case.
Planning the water cooling hose placement.
If I haven't raved about the Koolance 380i water block enough, let me to it again.
More thoughts on the water cooling hose placement.
Building the custom PSU cover.
A working loop layout.
Starting to overclock things.
Sleeving the I/O panel wires orange.
The orange LCD temperature displays arrive.
Ideas for sleeving colors/patterns for the video cards.
Putting the finished I/O panel back into the system.
The newly formulated Mayhem Orange Pastel arrive from England!
Just how well does the coolant match everything? You have to see to believe!
Ideas for sleeving colors/patterns for the motherboard power cable.
The new orange coolant is in the loop, and all I can say is ... WOW!
Fished painting the memory heat spreaders and PSU cover.
Time to sleeve the SATA cables in orange.
The RGB LED's arrive.
Three spools of 18AWG wire come in. Orange, Black, and Gray.
Time to order some tools from Lutro0 Customs.
The USB controlled LED control unit arrives. Video of it hooked up and how it works.
The LED's put into place (temporarily) and turned on. (video)
New Cougar 140mm fans installed in place of the stock NZXT ones. Testing out the new crimp tool from MDPC.
Wiring up the LED's and sleeving them.
Making a custom sleeved SATA power cable for the SSD.
Lots of new tools and toys arrive from Lutro0 Customs.
Redoing the SATA power connector without using heat shrink, for a MUCH better look.
Rewired some of the LED's in the case. Added LED's to the pedestal.
A simple way to dress up an ugly SLI bridge connector.
Ideals for an even better SLI bridge connector and LCD temperature display.
Building and sleeving a custom length CPU power cable.
A HOARD of connectors arrive from Lutro0 Customs.
Highlights:
Edited by 47 Knucklehead - 3/26/13 at 8:21pm
Muzzle Flash
(25 items) |
Switched Switch
(24 items) |
The Betty
(15 items) |
| CPU | Motherboard | Graphics | Graphics |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intel 2700k | Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD3H | EVGA GTX 560 Ti | EVGA GTX 560 Ti |
| RAM | Hard Drive | Optical Drive | Cooling |
| Samsung DDR3-1600 CL11 | Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB | LG DVD Burner | XSPC Raystorm CPU Waterblock |
| Cooling | Cooling | Cooling | Cooling |
| Durelene 1/2" ID x 5/8" OD Tubing | EK-FC560 GTX V2 Waterblock | EK-FC560 GTX V2 Waterblock | XSPC EX360 Radiator |
| Cooling | Cooling | Cooling | Cooling |
| XSPC EX120 Radiator | Swiftech MPC655-B D5 Pump | XSPC Acetal Top for Laning D5 | Danger Den RAD-RES |
| Cooling | OS | Monitor | Keyboard |
| Various Bitspower Compression Fittings | Windows 7 Professional | Asus VW246H 24" LCD | Logitech G110 |
| Power | Case | Mouse | Other |
| Enermax Revolution 85+ 950W | White NZXT Switch 810 | Logitech M325 | NZXT Hue |
| View all | |||
| CPU | Motherboard | Graphics | RAM |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intel i7 965 Extreme Edition | Asus Rampage II Extreme | XFX AMD HD6970 | 12 GB Corsair Dominator |
| Hard Drive | Hard Drive | Hard Drive | Optical Drive |
| Intel X25-M SSD | Western Digital VelociRaptor | Western Digital Caviar | LG Blu-Ray burner |
| Cooling | OS | Monitor | Keyboard |
| Custom external 720 cooling system | Windows 7 Ultimate | Dell 2001FP | Microsoft Natural 4000 |
| Power | Case | Mouse | |
| PC Power & Cooling Silencer Mk II 750W | ABS Canyon 695 | Logitech MX | |
| View all | |||
|
Muzzle Flash
(25 items) |
Switched Switch
(24 items) |
The Betty
(15 items) |
| CPU | Motherboard | Graphics | Graphics |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intel 2700k | Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD3H | EVGA GTX 560 Ti | EVGA GTX 560 Ti |
| RAM | Hard Drive | Optical Drive | Cooling |
| Samsung DDR3-1600 CL11 | Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB | LG DVD Burner | XSPC Raystorm CPU Waterblock |
| Cooling | Cooling | Cooling | Cooling |
| Durelene 1/2" ID x 5/8" OD Tubing | EK-FC560 GTX V2 Waterblock | EK-FC560 GTX V2 Waterblock | XSPC EX360 Radiator |
| Cooling | Cooling | Cooling | Cooling |
| XSPC EX120 Radiator | Swiftech MPC655-B D5 Pump | XSPC Acetal Top for Laning D5 | Danger Den RAD-RES |
| Cooling | OS | Monitor | Keyboard |
| Various Bitspower Compression Fittings | Windows 7 Professional | Asus VW246H 24" LCD | Logitech G110 |
| Power | Case | Mouse | Other |
| Enermax Revolution 85+ 950W | White NZXT Switch 810 | Logitech M325 | NZXT Hue |
| View all | |||
| CPU | Motherboard | Graphics | RAM |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intel i7 965 Extreme Edition | Asus Rampage II Extreme | XFX AMD HD6970 | 12 GB Corsair Dominator |
| Hard Drive | Hard Drive | Hard Drive | Optical Drive |
| Intel X25-M SSD | Western Digital VelociRaptor | Western Digital Caviar | LG Blu-Ray burner |
| Cooling | OS | Monitor | Keyboard |
| Custom external 720 cooling system | Windows 7 Ultimate | Dell 2001FP | Microsoft Natural 4000 |
| Power | Case | Mouse | |
| PC Power & Cooling Silencer Mk II 750W | ABS Canyon 695 | Logitech MX | |
| View all | |||
