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Project "Blue Pearl" - A computer using only the strongest hardware

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#1 ·
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.
 
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#5 ·
WOW...Just WOW!!!!
drool.gif


Just out of curosity, and feel free to answer , why so big? Gaming purpose? Work? Both? Just because you can?..

Anyway, subbed. can't wait to see the final result.
thumb.gif
 
#6 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sulfatron View Post

Wow!! Amazing!
lmaosmiley.gif


But I can't help thinking that all this hardware deserves a Caselabs case
blinksmiley.gif
Ditto on the chassis but suuuuuuubed
 
#11 ·
This is like one of those builds you make on pcpart picker for fun. This will be insane.

For the 4x titan x are you planning on messing with the custom drivers to get them to work? Are you planning on using all 6 monitors on each system or 3 for one system and 3 for the other?
 
#15 ·
The W200 case from Thermaltake is in design very similar to most Caselabs cases - I checked some pictures online and it was looking pretty alike.

You are right about the P6000's - I wanted those instead but I actually ordered the hardware over 2 months ago and it got stuck in customs for almost a month - during that time, the P6000's became available on Amazon and Fedex Crossborder discontinued their service.

Obviously, no shop here in Thailand carries that - the so-called "high end" shops carry GTX 1080's at max, and that's if you are lucky.

The Titans will be used for Windows, and the Quadros will be used for Linux. For some reason (*cough* corporate greed *cough*) using 6 monitors with compositing on Xorg with those cards on Linux isn't supported. I have another build that uses 4 GTX 1080 cards and I was never able to get it to work. The nVidia documentation says that we need Quadros for that. I wasn't comfortable enough to try the hard card mods that can supposedly transform GeForces into Quadros. With that setup, it's supposed to work right out of the box - we'll see about that.

There will be only 6 monitors. All Windows cards will be connected to the DP input of the monitors, and the Linux ones will be connected to the mini-DP. A simple press on "switch signal" on the monitors changes the OS.
 
#16 ·
- Day 2 -

Thanks for following this log. Today, my main focus will be to assemble the RAM stick coolers, and the GPU coolers. I'll be using G.skill 16GB sticks. Here is a picture of the stock memory stick:



As you can see, there are no screws on the stock cooler. How can we remove the cooler? I've seen this question many times, and the answer is quite simple: use a heat gun to melt the glue holding the cooler in place, then use a flat screwdriver to pry the heatsink off. You will end up with a naked RAM stick just like this:



The next step is what takes the longest: cut the thermal pads in small pieces and place a piece on every memory chip on the RAM stick. Once this is done, take the 2 halves of the EK RAM Monarch module, and use the 3 screws to sandwich the RAM stick between the 2 metal pieces. Don't be afraid to screw hard, but don't go overboard. You'll end up with this:



Then repeat this process for every stick (8 in total). It might look easy, but it took nearly 15 minutes per stick. I have to tell you, this was a real pain to do. I then had to do the same for all Samsung memory sticks that'll go in the Linux system, so that's 16 sticks in total.

Next, I'll install the water blocks on the video cards. I am impressed by how many screws are holding the nVidia Titan X Pascal stock heatsink in place. I had to google how to do this because I couldn't locate some screws. Here's a picture of the stock card:



The first step is to remove the backplate, by removing all the tiny screws on the back. Once the backplate is out, removing the heatsink implies removing the screws on the PCB holding it in place. It's easy to do, but it takes a while, especially when you forget one screw. This is the naked PCB:



It looks very plain but we'll quickly remedy the situation. The first step is to put the thermal pads on the card, and put thermal paste on the GPU. Once this is done, we have to place the waterblock on the card, and screw it firmly in place. Then we put the EK backplate on top of the card. This will ensure that you get a rock solid card.



The same process goes on for Quadro cards. I forgot to take pictures of this part, but it's pretty similar.

And... that's all for today. Tomorrow I will start assembling the system in the box and it'll start to take shape.
 
#18 ·
Definitely...

 
#19 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sulfatron View Post

Wow!! Amazing!
lmaosmiley.gif


But I can't help thinking that all this hardware deserves a Caselabs case
blinksmiley.gif
But why when you can cheap out with a copy case when building a $60k machine.
The whole thing is ridiculous waste of money, but hey if someone has so many to waste it's good to waste them.
 
#23 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by Quantum Reality View Post

Isn't there a chance you can damage the RAM silicon with a heatgun treatment like that?
eek.gif
No problem, he'll just buy another set. Doesn't look like money is a factor with this build lol
lachen.gif


On a serious note, just have the heatgun on low and go side to side evenly, the glue will eventually let up without damage to the chip.
 
#24 ·
There is a chance if it's not done properly. But I did this with countless sets and never broke a stick - those ICs are tougher than they look. The trick is going back and forth with the gun instead of heating the same spot.

If you're unlucky and break something, just stick the heatsinks back on, call your warranty, and play dumb. It'll work.
 
#25 ·
- Day 3 -

Welcome back folks. I am a bit hangover today but I'll do my best. Before putting the motherboard in the box, I tested all the gear. I put the motherboard on a wooden table, put the RAM sticks in the slot, put a temporary air cooler on the CPU, and tested the video cards one by one. This is to ensure that I didn't break anything while prying heatsinks and playing with the gear.

Everything worked correctly and I was able to install and run Windows on my no-box system, which is a good indication. It's a crucial step, because once the watercooling loop will start running, replacing a single component will take hours, so we need to find problems before they happen.

Then, once all the RAM sticks are in the slots, we put the EK Supremacy cooler over the CPU, and the X4 block over the 2 groups of RAM sticks. See below pictures.




As per my intended design, I'll make a link between the 2 RAM blocks. This will be my first hard tubing bond, so I'll give it a shot. First step is putting the fittings in place, and measuring exactly how long of tubing we need.

Then, we take the saw, and cut the required length. There is a VERY important step that we must not forget: with hard tubing, it is mandatory to chamfer the edges of the tubes before inserting then in the fitting, in order to avoid damaging the rubber gaskets inside. This is done by holding the tube in a 45-degree angle and rubbing the end on sandpaper while slowly rotating it. You can then use your finger to feel whether the chamfer is correct or not.

Then, we insert the tube in the 2 fittings, and put the 90-degree connectors. With the help of pliers, we screw the acrylic "bridge" on the 2 RAM blocks. This will ensure a very strong bond. I can use the acrylic tube alone to lift the whole thing, and believe me, it's heavy. This kind of bond can actually hold nearly 15 kilograms without breaking.



The general rule with acrylic tubing is: there is no need to use glue or silicon, but we must bear in mind that hard tubing fittings are not meant to support weight - we must ensure that no part is solely held by acrylic, or we are in for a bad surprise down the road. It's hard to explain, but you'll get the "feel" once you start experimenting with hard tubes.



It's now time to start building the box. The W200 case comes in parts for the true DIY experience. Building the case is pretty straightforward. We just have to follow what's in the book and we end up with the biggest case I've ever seen in my life:



Now, let's put the motherboard in the case.

When everything seems to be going well, Murphy's law kicks into place: It turns out that I do not have the motherboard's backplate as I used it for another project I was working on. Which means, I need that plate if I want to advance further. It's getting late in the evening now, so I'll place an express order with JIB to get a new board delivered to me tomorrow morning, from which I'll take the plate that I need. That's a lazy way, but it's quick and will allow me to proceed further.
 
#26 ·
- Day 4 -

Since my gear is scheduled to land in the afternoon, I will work on a something that I should have done a while ago: flushing the radiators. People who are familiar with watercooling know that every radiator, even brand new, comes filled with some particles of stuff that result from the manufacturing process. We therefore have to wash the radiators using distilled water.



We have to heat distilled water until it reaches a temperature of around 60 C and pour it in the radiator to fill it to around half capacity. Then, we close all holes and shake the thing like a madman for around 5 minutes. After that, I'll let it rest for nearly 15 minutes. Empty the radiator, and start over. We have to repeat the process 2 times for each radiator.

This process is extremely time consuming, as I have 6 radiators to clean this way. Along with waiting for the water to heat, it took nearly 3 hours to complete the whole process. This is required in order to prevent metal particles from entering the water loop once the coolant starts flowing.



Let's install the fans now. I'll be using only radiators taking 140 mm fans. Corsair makes 2 series of fans: AF and SP. In my case, I'll be using the SP-140 fan. AF stands for Air Flow, and is used mainly in air cooling setups. SP stands for Static Pressure and is used in watercooling setups to push the air through radiators in order to better dissipate the heat.

Every radiator comes with rubber gaskets and screws to install the fans. It is mandatory to install the rubber gaskets in order to prevent the fans from transmitting their vibration to the radiators and generate unwanted noise. Once you install the fans, it will look similar to this:



As I was taking the pics, I could hear the motorcycle from JIB coming to bring me my new board. After taking so much time preparing the radiators, I almost forgot about that board that I was about to get. However, that'll be another story for tomorrow, as I'm running out of time due to having to clean the radiators and installing the fans.
 
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