aka The Story of Drilling a GTX 480
I built my first real WC system recently. (Thanks for a lot of help in this thread, and on some other forums!) Here's a quick worklog / parts list. (Okay, short version first: Everything went well in the end and HOLY CRAP it was more than twice as expensive as I had planned. Now grab some popcorn and read on.) There aren't any pics here apart from end reults, because I didn't casemod, apart from a small thing (linked to).
PC system (what's interesting for WC):
Original WC system:
First work log:
Additional parts for WC system:
Second work log:
Edited by MiSP - 9/6/10 at 1:26pm
Worklog
Temps and OC data in next post
Temps and OC data in next post
I built my first real WC system recently. (Thanks for a lot of help in this thread, and on some other forums!) Here's a quick worklog / parts list. (Okay, short version first: Everything went well in the end and HOLY CRAP it was more than twice as expensive as I had planned. Now grab some popcorn and read on.) There aren't any pics here apart from end reults, because I didn't casemod, apart from a small thing (linked to).
PC system (what's interesting for WC):
- Core i7 920, OC'ed to 4.2 GHz
- 2x GTX 480 SLI
- Asus P6T Deluxe v2
- Corsair Obsidian 800D
Original WC system:
- EK blocks on CPU, MB (inc. mosfet blocks) and GPU's - acetal tops, no nickel plating
- Laing DDC 18w Pump / Swiftech MCP355 with XSPC DDC res top
- Laing DDC anti vibration kit
- Feser Xchanger 360
- 3 Triebwerk mid speed
- Sunbean Rheobus Black (could handle three Triebwerks on one channel)
- 2L Feser One clear cooling fluid
- 9 ft Masterkleer 7/16'' ID 5/8'' OD
- 16 black EK compression fittings
- 4 silver of the above (for the Koolance thing below)
- Koolance 5-way nozzle body (used as T splitter) and drain valve
First work log:
- Inserted MB into case, just couldn't wait. Intalled PSU. Set up cable management. 800D is a fantastic case to work with!
- Got waterblocks. The screws on the stock GPU cooler was DARN tight. Almost destroyed a screw on one of the GPU's, got it loose with extreme pressure. Destroyed another screw on the other GPU, and actually had to DRILL (!!!) the screw head off to get the cooler loose. Imagine that, drilling through a brand new GTX 480! Checked the GPU's in my existing PC afterwards, both were alive, thank God. For the For MB and CPU, everything went according to plan. Used ArctiClean to remove old thermal compound on GPU's and MB. (I have used it for a couple of computer upgrades now, and it works very well, I highly recommend it!) Used Arctic Silver 5 on GPU's and CPU, and that was the little bit I had left, so I used Arctic MX-2 on the NB (came with the CPU block).
- Tested mounting the rad and the Triebwerks, noticed that the triebwerks blocked the 8-pin CPU contact, returned them, ordered three Noctua NF-P12's instead. By the time they arrived, I'd been advised against them, so returned them again.
- Tried to find a place to mount the pump/res, only place that fitted was on the lower fan - would impair case airflow, but not much to do.
- Tried bending the tubing to fit between water blocks, noticed the parts was so close it had a tendency to kink a little, got some tips here.
- Got a terrible hunch that the triple rad might not be enough to cool my system (I had exchanged a 5970 with the two GTX 480's since the last time I got "approval" of what I had picked out), so I started this thread (and the other threads on the other forums).
- Tried to supress the crunching of my stomach as I realised the additional parts would cost as much as my entire WC setup to this point. Ordered new parts. Ouch.
Additional parts for WC system:
- 4 more silver EK compression fittings to be used with a new Koolance 5-way nozzle body and drain valve
- 2 more black EK compression fittings
- Feser SLI connector thingy
- ThermoChill PA120.4
- Two G3/8 to G1/4 adapters for the new rad (I'm lucky I saw that before I ordered!)
- Koolance rad mounting bracket (pricey, but sturdy, and spaces the rad far enough out to make tubing at all possible)
- Another pump, same as before
- XSPC Dual DDC dual bay res
- 7 Scythe Gentle Typhoon 1450RPM
- 7 fan grills
- 3 90 degree dual rotary adaptors (2*45 degrees, doesn't look like they will steal much flow)
- 4 black and 1 silver 30 degree dual rotary adaptor
- 6 feet red and 6 feet blue/purple primochill anti-kink coils
- 3 quadruple fan connector splitters
- 4 anti vibration gaskets and longer screws for (for the P120.4)
- 9 more feet of tubing (hey, better more than less)
- Some foam pads for the res
- Chilled PC's gauge-style thermometer
Second work log:
- Ouch, that really hurt... There's for doing something for the first time... Anyway, removed bottom HDD cage according to my post here (pics two posts further down in that thread). This is where the bay res would be "mounted" (e.g. placed with foam underneath to supress noise).
- Purchased above parts, and just sat there, wai... SNAP! Less than 24 hours from UK through Germany and delivered home to me in Norway. That's quick! (Kudos to DHL!)
- Installed the rest of the system, filled the loops (separate quad for GPU's and triple for CPU and MB) and started bleeding it. Took an hour with my res (the bubbles are mostly fed right into the pump again). As I thought, the res didn't fit in the 5.25" bays, so I had to place it at the bottom, as I had intended anyway. With the foam underneath, the pumps at the bottom aren't audible (or at least not discernible) over the silent sound from the fans.
- Booted system... Yes, everything seemed to work! I installed Windows, installed drivers, and after installing the graphics card drivers, BAM, no picture after reboot. Reverted and tried lots of things, including disconnecting the power to one of the cards, and found out that my second card was defect. (Was it the one I drilled? I don't know.) Lots of glitches during startup, and no picture at the logon screen. The driver probably activated the second card, that's why I didn't notice it before installing the drivers and booting into Windows (non-safe mode, it worked in safe mode).
- So... Guess what, I had to drain the GPU loop. And that was a real PITA. I had skipped the T-line / drain valve - since the res was at the bottom of my system, I figured I could just turn it upside down. That was easier said than done, and I really hope my floor isn't screwed up from all the Feser One I spilled.
- Made use of this opportunity to empty the CPU loop too, and installed T-line / drain valve to both loops down close to the res.
- Ordered some more Feser One, and RMA'd the faulty GPU. Hope they didn't notice that I had used it for watercooling... (Luckily, I had taken good care of the stock cooler, including all the thermal pads - always a good idea!)
- What's that burned smell? Oh crap, the pump in the GPU loop suddenly died. (Incredibly enough, the GTX 480 could still take hours of gaming with just a burned smell before I noticed the pump!) RMA'd the pump and put everything together in one loop with a single pump. Worked great! And I think the temps dropped too all over the board, since all the components now had access to two radiators. Decided to stick with a dual-rad single loop.
- Waiting, waiting, waiting... Yay! Finally, two MONTHS after RMA-ing the GPU, I got a new one. After first testing it with the stock cooler, I eagerly installed the waterblock, drained my system, installed it into the loop, refilled, and wham, total faliure when I activated it. Drained system, installed stock cooler, refilled, and would you look at that, just fine. Googled a bit and came by (coincidentally) some users reporting that the metal reinforcer on the EK waterblock shorted out something. That's probably what happened with the first GPU I RMA'd... I installed the waterblock again without the reinforcer, drained, installed the card, refilled, and YES! FINALLY my computer was finished, the way it was meant to be! (Except I only have one pump at the moment, but hey, it works just fine.) I also repositioned the drain ports so that one is placed just below the lowest GPU (for easy draining of only the GPU part of the loop, since it turned out to be so troublesome), and another is down by the res at the bottom.
Edited by MiSP - 9/6/10 at 1:26pm
