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Dear all,
welcome to my first ever solo build, thus christened The Marathon (at least for now as I think its going to take a while) (also quite fitting as I'm Greek and the colour ways are white and blue.... just by coincidence).
I'm editing this opening post because much is not relevant any more and its just going to get messy with this many strikthroughs.
You will have to have some patience as i think its going to be a long one however here is the plan.
Case: NZXT H440 (Arrived)
Mobo: AsusTUF X99 Sabertooth (possibly white if it is released)
CPU: Intel i7 5960X
GPU: GALAX GeForce GTX 980 "Hall of Fame Edition" x2 SLI or 1 single Titan X 980ti
RAM: G-Skill Ripjaws 32GB (8x4gb) 2666MHz
SSD: 2x Samsung 850 Pro 500GB (RAID 0)
PSU: Corsair AX860 EVGA Supernova G2 850W Arrived
Watercooling Setup:
Radiator Front: Alphacool NexXxoS Monsta 360mm White (push-pull) - ordered
Radiator Top: Alphacool NexXxoS ST30 240mm Black (will paint it white) (push) - ordered
Pump: PWM D5 pump, brand unknown, custom top mounted to custom shroud - Diamond Cooling
Reservoir: Custom built - wait and see - Diamond Cooling
Hard Tube: Clear 12/10 - Diamond Cooling
Fittings: Custom painted hard tube push fittings powder coated in blue and white - Diamond Cooling
CPU block: Custom Block in white - Diamond Cooling
GPU Blocks: GTX 980 HOF Water blocks and back plate (custom colour ways) - Diamond Cooling
As well as the custom water cooling parts Dimaond Cooling are also going to make me a new shroud with pass throughs for hardline pipes, ssd Cables, and GPU-PSU cables. It will also include top mounts for 2 SSD's, and a bottom mount for the D5 pump
Big Thank you to Diamond Cooling for even considering taking some of this stuff on, really making a fanatical dream a reality!

so there is much to plan...
things I've seen that I'm worried about with solutions I'm considering:
1. airflow with the case
while its not a huge concern for me initially as i wont be over clocking straight off the bat i know once i start with my custom loop it will most likely be an issue, however the case looks too good to pass up and has mad reviews so far so i shall workaround it.
Solutions: laser cut the front and top panels (tastefully to keep some of the aesthetics of the case) to increase the airflow.... may also give me room for a push pull system... but that's yet to be determined for both front and top positions.
2. where do you mount a reservoir....
this is where i think i need to get very creative.... everyone so far has cylinders in this particular case however I'm tempted to look into the possibility of a plexiglass reservoir made to measure to replace a certain part of the case.... more to come on this in the future...
3. fans cost a fortune at the moment but there will be a full on fan replacement occurring at some point... most likely for Noiseblockers for performance as well as they stock colours..... i have also recently found out that noisblockers don't work so good when up against another surface and pulling air in, so I'm going to have to offset them to allow them to actually work while maintaining as high SP as possible.
4.I WILL be sleeving my own cables, bar 1 (the sata power cable) as it will fit much nicer if i get a single out connector custom made from Icemodz)
5. I'll be doing a bit of colour changing inside the case and on the GPU backplate and fan covers.
6. there is a possibility I will do some funky lighting system inside which I think is feasible but I will let you know once I crack the case open
so for now some things i want to get started on and opinions on are the cut outs for the front panel and top panel..... I think i have narrowed it down to a couple of options
1. keeping it modern
http://www.primochill.com/product/triple-carbon-bicolor-rad-grillz/
with this grill
http://www.primochill.com/product/primochill-hex-2-layer-rad-grillz-120mm-2/
this i think keeps the clean lines and modern feel of the case quite well and will allow me full access to the cleaned out panel at the back for a possible push-pull (I'm hoping)
So let me know your thoughts, ideas and experiences
welcome to my first ever solo build, thus christened The Marathon (at least for now as I think its going to take a while) (also quite fitting as I'm Greek and the colour ways are white and blue.... just by coincidence).
I'm editing this opening post because much is not relevant any more and its just going to get messy with this many strikthroughs.
You will have to have some patience as i think its going to be a long one however here is the plan.
Case: NZXT H440 (Arrived)
Mobo: AsusTUF X99 Sabertooth (possibly white if it is released)
CPU: Intel i7 5960X
GPU: GALAX GeForce GTX 980 "Hall of Fame Edition" x2 SLI or 1 single Titan X 980ti
RAM: G-Skill Ripjaws 32GB (8x4gb) 2666MHz
SSD: 2x Samsung 850 Pro 500GB (RAID 0)
PSU: Corsair AX860 EVGA Supernova G2 850W Arrived
Watercooling Setup:
Radiator Front: Alphacool NexXxoS Monsta 360mm White (push-pull) - ordered
Radiator Top: Alphacool NexXxoS ST30 240mm Black (will paint it white) (push) - ordered
Pump: PWM D5 pump, brand unknown, custom top mounted to custom shroud - Diamond Cooling
Reservoir: Custom built - wait and see - Diamond Cooling
Hard Tube: Clear 12/10 - Diamond Cooling
Fittings: Custom painted hard tube push fittings powder coated in blue and white - Diamond Cooling
CPU block: Custom Block in white - Diamond Cooling
GPU Blocks: GTX 980 HOF Water blocks and back plate (custom colour ways) - Diamond Cooling
As well as the custom water cooling parts Dimaond Cooling are also going to make me a new shroud with pass throughs for hardline pipes, ssd Cables, and GPU-PSU cables. It will also include top mounts for 2 SSD's, and a bottom mount for the D5 pump
Big Thank you to Diamond Cooling for even considering taking some of this stuff on, really making a fanatical dream a reality!
so there is much to plan...
things I've seen that I'm worried about with solutions I'm considering:
1. airflow with the case
while its not a huge concern for me initially as i wont be over clocking straight off the bat i know once i start with my custom loop it will most likely be an issue, however the case looks too good to pass up and has mad reviews so far so i shall workaround it.
Solutions: laser cut the front and top panels (tastefully to keep some of the aesthetics of the case) to increase the airflow.... may also give me room for a push pull system... but that's yet to be determined for both front and top positions.
2. where do you mount a reservoir....
this is where i think i need to get very creative.... everyone so far has cylinders in this particular case however I'm tempted to look into the possibility of a plexiglass reservoir made to measure to replace a certain part of the case.... more to come on this in the future...
3. fans cost a fortune at the moment but there will be a full on fan replacement occurring at some point... most likely for Noiseblockers for performance as well as they stock colours..... i have also recently found out that noisblockers don't work so good when up against another surface and pulling air in, so I'm going to have to offset them to allow them to actually work while maintaining as high SP as possible.
4.I WILL be sleeving my own cables, bar 1 (the sata power cable) as it will fit much nicer if i get a single out connector custom made from Icemodz)
5. I'll be doing a bit of colour changing inside the case and on the GPU backplate and fan covers.
6. there is a possibility I will do some funky lighting system inside which I think is feasible but I will let you know once I crack the case open

so for now some things i want to get started on and opinions on are the cut outs for the front panel and top panel..... I think i have narrowed it down to a couple of options
1. keeping it modern
http://www.primochill.com/product/triple-carbon-bicolor-rad-grillz/
with this grill
http://www.primochill.com/product/primochill-hex-2-layer-rad-grillz-120mm-2/
this i think keeps the clean lines and modern feel of the case quite well and will allow me full access to the cleaned out panel at the back for a possible push-pull (I'm hoping)
So let me know your thoughts, ideas and experiences