Project: Atomman's Skulltrail - Air to Water - Radiator Box

[atomman]

I started off this build planning on cooling with air, but it became evident that water cooling would be necessary for overclocking ...


Here is the case, a chenbro SR10768. It has an aluminum door, but that is removed until I can get a handle on the temperatures.

http://www.atomworks.com/public/boards/extremesystems/xeonBuild/001_case.jpg


Everything assembled.

http://www.atomworks.com/public/boards/extremesystems/xeonBuild/007_assembled.jpg

http://www.atomworks.com/public/boards/extremesystems/xeonBuild/008_upright.jpg


After I got it all built I discovered that the MCH ran very hot. Because of my case, and the orientation of the heatsinks, I had no way of directly cooling it.

I decided to go with watercooling. I am still waiting for my PA120.3, but here are the other parts while doing a leak test on the blocks. Ignore the heatsink under the pump.

http://www.atomworks.com/public/boards/extremesystems/xeonBuild/009_waterTight.jpg


I wanted to make a box to hold the PA120.3, pump and reservoir. I looked for what seemed like forever to find something under $50. I had pretty much given up when I walked into the local industrial electronics store, and they had piles of these at the front door for $5.00 each. If I measured right, they should be the perfect size for the rad. I bought 3 of them.

http://www.atomworks.com/public/boards/extremesystems/xeonBuild/010_5dollars.jpg

http://www.atomworks.com/public/boards/extremesystems/xeonBuild/011_bagOff.jpg


Cutting a hole for an on/off switch.

http://www.atomworks.com/public/boards/extremesystems/xeonBuild/012_cutting.jpg

http://www.atomworks.com/public/boards/extremesystems/xeonBuild/013_switch.jpg


Here is the box after painting

http://www.atomworks.com/public/boards/extremesystems/xeonBuild/014_afterPainting.jpg

http://www.atomworks.com/public/boards/extremesystems/xeonBuild/015_assembled.jpg


I purchased some perforated aluminum to function as the grill on the front of the rad box. It will limit the air to the rad so I may not use it, but we will see what the temps are like first ... I may/may not paint it ...

http://www.atomworks.com/public/boards/extremesystems/xeonBuild/016_grill.jpg

Still waiting for that and my rad ...

[evil-98]

that box case thing looks awesome, also that case is really nice. good luck :up:

edit:

is that maxwell i see in the background? nice intuos :)

[Lurid]

Looking good so far, i'm interested to see how it turns out.

[aspire.comptech]

Sweet stuff!

[atomman]

thanks guys,

evil - that is modo, not maxwell :)

[DarthBeavis]

Skulltrail cooling ideas
Vadim BlastFlow SB/Nvidia SLI Chipset block, MIPS RAM Freezer, DD blocks on GPUS/NB . . .also have a dark blue set of DD MC-TDXS for the CPUS not pictured, only thing I do not have are mofset blocks, you can get the BlastFlow from NCIX
http://img210.imageshack.us/img210/700/dsc00390ph7.th.jpg (http://img210.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc00390ph7.jpg)

thanks to CyberDruid for the BlastFlow idea

[HaCKs]

Very excited to see how this turns out. I wish I was near you, I would LOVE to pick up two of those cases for a sidebyside mod I am trying to plan out.

[[XC] NetburstXE]

Subscribed for sure!

[Webster]

Definetely subscribed! :up:

[biftek.]

Same thing the above two said. :p:

This looks great so far!

[atomman]

I hope no one is disappointed - I only plan to cool the two processors and MCH (and maybe the graphics card) for now - this is my first go at watercooling and it can get expensive!

I am looking forward to seeing how the radiator box turns out though. I had a PA120.3 on order from NCIX for 3 weeks before I finally canceled and ordered from Jab-Tech. The rad should be here late next week. The sheet of metal for the grill should be here early next week.

[BNDMOD]

Suscribed...
I want to see this :d

[DarthBeavis]

I hope no one is disappointed - I only plan to cool the two processors and MCH (and maybe the graphics card) for now - this is my first go at watercooling and it can get expensive!

I am looking forward to seeing how the radiator box turns out though. I had a PA120.3 on order from NCIX for 3 weeks before I finally canceled and ordered from Jab-Tech. The rad should be here late next week. The sheet of metal for the grill should be here early next week.

When you say MCH do you mean the NB? You will need to active cool the RAM bud. An OCZ ram cooler will fit on there. If you have questions let me know. I am finsihing my Skully. My buds over at Danger Den built two Skully boxes and also watercooled the Western Digital Velociraptor by Smooth Creations box . . .which is also a Skully. That means 4 builds of experience at your service ;)

[atomman]

When you say MCH do you mean the NB? You will need to active cool the RAM bud. An OCZ ram cooler will fit on there. If you have questions let me know. I am finsihing my Skully. My buds over at Danger Den built two Skully boxes and also watercooled the Western Digital Velociraptor by Smooth Creations box . . .which is also a Skully. That means 4 builds of experience at your service ;)

For sure - thanks Darth. Yes by MCH I mean the NB. The ram now has a Corsair ram cooler on it (below). I've had it running for 2 or 3 weeks. I've just not been able to overclock it very well presumably because the NB gets so hot and I've not had a way to cool it until it gets on water. if I get a stable 3.2, I'll be happy.

http://www.atomworks.com/public/boards/extremesystems/xeonBuild/017_ramFan.jpg


The waterblock that I am using for the MCH is the DD MPC-X38.

http://www.atomworks.com/public/boards/extremesystems/xeonBuild/018_northBridge.jpg

[disruptfam]

awesome

old $5 case turned out great

[DarthBeavis]

For sure - thanks Darth. Yes by MCH I mean the NB. The ram now has a Corsair ram cooler on it (below). I've had it running for 2 or 3 weeks. I've just not been able to overclock it very well presumably because the NB gets so hot and I've not had a way to cool it until it gets on water. if I get a stable 3.2, I'll be happy.

http://www.atomworks.com/public/boards/extremesystems/xeonBuild/017_ramFan.jpg


The waterblock that I am using for the MCH is the DD MPC-X38.

http://www.atomworks.com/public/boards/extremesystems/xeonBuild/018_northBridge.jpg


Same block I have just with a blue top. BTW . . .got my QX9775s to 4 ghz easily before I tore it down to rebuild it up . . .

[evil-98]

evil - that is modo, not maxwell :)

really? wow similar layout, hows modo? ive seen some nice stuff from it.

personally i use 3dsmax, im learning to zbrush/mudbox but im not picking it up
to well, havent put in enough mileage

nice pics btw :up:

[ultimeus]

suscribed , cool ideas

[SafeFire]

Cool stuff, I'll be following this for sure.

Skulltrail really calls for quad loopage (good luck finding a case big enough :D)
One loop per cpu, and one loop per card, heh.

[atomman]

evil - yeah modo (http://www.luxology.com/) is pretty cool; the interface is completely customizable, and you can get some really nice renders from it; I run a script site for it at vertexmonkey.com (http://www.vertexmonkey.com).

This system, when overclocked on air, can be found in the benchmark section here (http://www.vertexmonkey.com/benchmark_scene_302_8Spheres.php).


Just so everyones on the same page, I am running X5430 Xeon chips in them (see Xeon boxes in first pic). 3.2 is my goal (20%) increase. Not too extreme I know, but much cheaper than buying 3.2 Xeons. I use the system for 3D modeling and rendering.

My kingston memory may hold me from getting anything much over a 400mhz fsb. I could not change *any* of the memory settings right now when it is on air.

[Th3MadScientist]

On those dominator ram fans, did you take off the sticker? Is it even a sticker ?

[Big_Daddy]

On those dominator ram fans, did you take off the sticker? Is it even a sticker ?

Yup, just a sticker

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3125/2479116196_d15e3de60a_m.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/bigdaddy501/2479116196/)

[atomman]

got the aluminum for the grill today ...

http://www.atomworks.com/public/boards/extremesystems/xeonBuild/019_grill.jpg

[atomman]

picked up a jug of pentosin G11 (audi dealer said that this was the same stuff)

http://www.atomworks.com/public/boards/extremesystems/xeonBuild/020_pentosin.jpg

[kinghong1970]

Holy Smokes!!! that's one BIG jug!

how many computers you plan on putting under water?

[MINIz guy]

The rest could probably be for his car :)

[atomman]

yeah - I know it is a lot :)

It is the smallest amount that I could source locally ...

[atomman]

cutting the grill ...

http://www.atomworks.com/public/boards/extremesystems/xeonBuild/021_cutting.jpg


finished cutting ...

http://www.atomworks.com/public/boards/extremesystems/xeonBuild/022_cut.jpg


assembled ... I am going to paint the grill black- don't think I like the silver look ... looks too unfinished ...

http://www.atomworks.com/public/boards/extremesystems/xeonBuild/023_inPlace.jpg

[disruptfam]

very nice!!!!!!!!!!

[septim]

i like it... more please...

[Pedalmonkey]

what Grill is that. i love it. very industrial man eating looking

[Martinm210]

Awesome work, great photos as well!

[lazy]

Love that box you have for the rad!

Subscribed

[Voo Doo]

Nice job but I find it funny that you were only willing to spend $50 on a Radbox for a Skulltrail build.
Good to see you found something for only $5 though.

[XS_RoB]

I have to ask...... who is the manufacturer of the empty case? I can never find any empty cases like that. I tried several Google searches and come up with nothing....
Searched "Empty PC Case" "Hollow PC Case" "PC Case Frame" "PC Case Frame Only"

Any help would be great! - I bought all the aluminum channel to build one - but would much rather have a prebuilt one like yours! :)

Thanks

[[XC] NetburstXE]

Very nice :yepp:

[atomman]

Nice job but I find it funny that you were only willing to spend $50 on a Radbox for a Skulltrail build.
Good to see you found something for only $5 though.

heh heh ... well I did spend more money on the paint and grill ... :)



what Grill is that. i love it. very industrial man eating looking

I got it off of ebay - do a search for perforated aluminum ...



I have to ask...... who is the manufacturer of the empty case? I can never find any empty cases like that. I tried several Google searches and come up with nothing....

what you want to search for is 'enclosure'. There are a lot of manufacturers out there that make electronics boxes - the problem is finding one the proper size for your rad, reservoir etc.

This one is made by Schroff (http://www.schroff.us/home.asp).

http://www.atomworks.com/public/boards/extremesystems/xeonBuild/024_caseCover.jpg

http://www.atomworks.com/public/boards/extremesystems/xeonBuild/025_caseInside.jpg

[Giannis86]

personally i love the black-silver look that it has now..anyway it looks great so far:clap:

[XS_RoB]

Thanks AtomMan! So which Dimensionn is yours? Just so I can base it on size. I have 2 PA120.3's that I would love to squeeze in one! - or if you have a recommendation from this page.

Link (Similar to yours) (http://web.schroff.de/catalogue/catalogue.do;jsessionid=9CA00124124774BC3E6EEF60E7 DD687F?favOid=000000000003c54e00050023&act=showBookmark&che=1&lang=us&catId=US)

I do appreciate your willingness to help! :)

Loving that Look and I too love the Silver on Black look!

[Origin_Unknown]

nice - like the external box idea

[HaCKs]

I love it! Agreed, the grill needs to be painted black.

Where did you get that grill?

[MINIz guy]

Very nice! I really like that external radiator box, I might have to try and find a few of those for myself. Would look so much better than building your own radiator box, and it's cheap!

[atomman]

Thanks AtomMan! So which Dimensionn is yours?


Rob, mine is the one with the red arrow pointing to it on the manual.

Here is the link to the 'Cardpac' page (http://web.schroff.de/catalogue/catalogue.do?che=1&favOid=000000000001c48000010023&act=showBookmark&lang=en&catId=DE) - looks like it is discontinued (and this part of the website does not work well). Here is the PDF (http://web.schroff.de/webcat/subgroup/pdf/e/cardpac_e.pdf) to the ones that I bought. The new rounded edge ones look really cool.

There is nothing special about mine - only that I was able to get them cheap and it happened that it was the proper size.

[atomman]

completed rad box - probably will pain aluminum bars in front black ...

http://www.atomworks.com/public/boards/extremesystems/xeonBuild/026_caseDone.jpg


rad, shroud and fans ...

http://www.atomworks.com/public/boards/extremesystems/xeonBuild/027_rad.jpg


assembled rad in box - fits perfectly via pressure fit ...

http://www.atomworks.com/public/boards/extremesystems/xeonBuild/028_radInBox.jpg

http://www.atomworks.com/public/boards/extremesystems/xeonBuild/029_front.jpg


blocks on motherboard ...

http://www.atomworks.com/public/boards/extremesystems/xeonBuild/030_blocksOnBoard.jpg


in case ...

http://www.atomworks.com/public/boards/extremesystems/xeonBuild/031_inCase.jpg

http://www.atomworks.com/public/boards/extremesystems/xeonBuild/032_caseOnFloor.jpg


rear ...

http://www.atomworks.com/public/boards/extremesystems/xeonBuild/033_rear.jpg

[evil-98]

wow, thats got to be fun to render on.. i remember when i moved from a 3.2 HT to my qx6850.. i thought i was in heaven.. rendering on 8 core is godly...

rad block looks very nice btw, love the perforated aluminum which i could find something like that locally. :up:

[SDatl404]

very nice setup

[MINIz guy]

Very nice outcome. I can't stop loving that radiator box, it's great!

[DarthBeavis]

three thumbz up!!!!! peace out meh fellow Skully brotha.

[ColonelCain]

Very nice work. Simple, yet beautiful. :toast:


three thumbz up!!!!! peace out meh fellow Skully brotha.

Yet, I still cannot see how the both of you found the money for it.

[biftek.]

WOW! that rad box looks tight!

[Unoid]

external water boxes = way to go :)

Heres my external box I mad 3.5 years ago. Still running strong.
http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?t=426618