Hello everybody! I will be publishing the build log for "Blue Pearl Project", a water-cooled computer that I'll be building using only the world's strongest gear. I'll make a dual Windows / Linux system in a single box and we'll watercool the whole thing. I am writing this to help anybody who would want to build a similar machine in the future. I hope everyone reading this log will find good advice and ideas from it.
I will be posting 1 time per day in this thread in order to show pictures and updates of the build. I anticipate a total time of around 10 days until completion since I have other things to work on.
The English version will be posted here, and the Thai version will be posted on Pantip, right there: https://pantip.com/topic/36159228.
I am not sponsored, so I will use my imagination along with ideas taken from various builds that I came across, in order to have my own custom machine.
- Day 1 -
I greeted Fedex this morning, who brought me my missing gear so I could finally get started with building all that. So here's a picture of what all the gear looks like:
I'll be building a Windows gaming system, and an Arch Linux workstation system in the same box. I just want the strongest machine, so I'll make no compromise on that. I'll be running a set of nVidia Titan X Pascal cards in 4-way SLI for Windows gaming, and dual Xeons for Linux workstation for a total of 44 cores / 88 threads, coupled with 4 nVidia Quadro M6000 GPUs. Everything will be hooked to a 6-screen setup of Dell P2415Q 4k monitors.
Here is all the gear, along with the current prices (in USD):
[Windows]
Motherboard: ASUS Rampage V Edition 10: $500
CPU: Intel Core i7 6950X: $1,200
RAM: Gskill 128 GB: $1,000
GPU: nVidia Titan X Pascal (4x): $5,500
HD: Samsung 850 Pro 2TB SSD (5x): $3,500
PSU: Corsair AX1500i: $500
[Linux]
Motherboard: ASUS Z10PE-D8 WS: $600
CPU: Intel Xeon E5-2699 v4 (2x): $9,500
RAM: Samsung ECC 256 GB: $1,600
GPU: nVidia Quadro M6000 (4x): $20,000
HD: Samsung 850 Pro 2TB SSD (3x): $2,300
PSU: Corsair AX1500i: $500
[Used in both]
Box: Thermaltake W200 + P200 pedestral: $600
Custom sleeved cables (moddiy.com): $1,500
Controller: Aquaero 6XT + front plate (2x): $400
All watercooling gear: $5,000
Monitor: Dell P2415Q 4k 24-inch (6x): $3,000
UPS Power Supply 2000W (2x): $2,000
Misc (cables, extenders, combs, etc.): $1,500
TOTAL: $60,700
On the above picture, I have a bit more gear than necessary for the build - such high-end gear is hard to find here in Thailand and I have to place a Newegg order + use Fedex Crossborder to have the stuff reshipped to me here (10 days), so it's better to play it safe and get a little bit more. Plus, it'll give me a good excuse to build a new rig after this one.
I try to purchase locally to avoid shipping delays, so a lot of the stuff comes from JIB and InvadeIT.
I ordered the rest of the gear on Newegg.
All sleeved cables come from ModDIY. I tried sleeving them myself, but I suck at doing that.
Watercooling gear comes from performance-pcs.com. All fittings are from Bitspower, radiators are from Phobya, and the rest, including water blocks, is from EK.
I had to make around 5 trips to HomePro because I constantly forgot to buy a tool.
And much thanks to Fedex Crossborder for allowing anyone in the world to purchase from US retailers.
I'll also adhere to a set of rules when building this project. This is my first hard tubing rig, so I'll try to:
1) No tube bending. Fittings only.
2) No soft tubing for any reason.
3) No loose part - everything must be rock solid.
While hard tubing is harder to work with, it is better in the long term as most dyes will not stain it. Plus, it looks way better on every build.
Now that we cleared this, I'll start building the machine tomorrow and I will detail every step to let everybody learn how to do that.
I will be posting 1 time per day in this thread in order to show pictures and updates of the build. I anticipate a total time of around 10 days until completion since I have other things to work on.
The English version will be posted here, and the Thai version will be posted on Pantip, right there: https://pantip.com/topic/36159228.
I am not sponsored, so I will use my imagination along with ideas taken from various builds that I came across, in order to have my own custom machine.
- Day 1 -
I greeted Fedex this morning, who brought me my missing gear so I could finally get started with building all that. So here's a picture of what all the gear looks like:
I'll be building a Windows gaming system, and an Arch Linux workstation system in the same box. I just want the strongest machine, so I'll make no compromise on that. I'll be running a set of nVidia Titan X Pascal cards in 4-way SLI for Windows gaming, and dual Xeons for Linux workstation for a total of 44 cores / 88 threads, coupled with 4 nVidia Quadro M6000 GPUs. Everything will be hooked to a 6-screen setup of Dell P2415Q 4k monitors.
Here is all the gear, along with the current prices (in USD):
[Windows]
Motherboard: ASUS Rampage V Edition 10: $500
CPU: Intel Core i7 6950X: $1,200
RAM: Gskill 128 GB: $1,000
GPU: nVidia Titan X Pascal (4x): $5,500
HD: Samsung 850 Pro 2TB SSD (5x): $3,500
PSU: Corsair AX1500i: $500
[Linux]
Motherboard: ASUS Z10PE-D8 WS: $600
CPU: Intel Xeon E5-2699 v4 (2x): $9,500
RAM: Samsung ECC 256 GB: $1,600
GPU: nVidia Quadro M6000 (4x): $20,000
HD: Samsung 850 Pro 2TB SSD (3x): $2,300
PSU: Corsair AX1500i: $500
[Used in both]
Box: Thermaltake W200 + P200 pedestral: $600
Custom sleeved cables (moddiy.com): $1,500
Controller: Aquaero 6XT + front plate (2x): $400
All watercooling gear: $5,000
Monitor: Dell P2415Q 4k 24-inch (6x): $3,000
UPS Power Supply 2000W (2x): $2,000
Misc (cables, extenders, combs, etc.): $1,500
TOTAL: $60,700
On the above picture, I have a bit more gear than necessary for the build - such high-end gear is hard to find here in Thailand and I have to place a Newegg order + use Fedex Crossborder to have the stuff reshipped to me here (10 days), so it's better to play it safe and get a little bit more. Plus, it'll give me a good excuse to build a new rig after this one.
I try to purchase locally to avoid shipping delays, so a lot of the stuff comes from JIB and InvadeIT.
I ordered the rest of the gear on Newegg.
All sleeved cables come from ModDIY. I tried sleeving them myself, but I suck at doing that.
Watercooling gear comes from performance-pcs.com. All fittings are from Bitspower, radiators are from Phobya, and the rest, including water blocks, is from EK.
I had to make around 5 trips to HomePro because I constantly forgot to buy a tool.
And much thanks to Fedex Crossborder for allowing anyone in the world to purchase from US retailers.
I'll also adhere to a set of rules when building this project. This is my first hard tubing rig, so I'll try to:
1) No tube bending. Fittings only.
2) No soft tubing for any reason.
3) No loose part - everything must be rock solid.
While hard tubing is harder to work with, it is better in the long term as most dyes will not stain it. Plus, it looks way better on every build.
Now that we cleared this, I'll start building the machine tomorrow and I will detail every step to let everybody learn how to do that.