Good Things in a Small Package - My H2GO Build

[zlojack]

Alright...I finally got around to doing some work on this badboy today.

Hardware is as follows:

Gigabyte GA-X58-UD5
Intel Core i7 920
Mushkin Triple Channel XP3-1600 7-8-7-18 6GB
EVGA GTX Core 216 SC (up to tri-SLI *still deciding whether to wait for 55nm or not*)

Cooling will be done by:

2 Thermochill PA 120.2
1 Themochill PA 120.1
6 Scythe S-Flex SFF21G 1900 RPM on a Rheobus
2 MCP655s with EK tops
Danger Den Tieton Blocks
A whole crapload of BP fittings
3/8"-1/2" Tygon R3606

I'm not the best at taking photos and my workspace doesn't have the best lighting, but I'll try to get some decent pics for everyone.

Here are some shots of my new gear.


The chip

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v391/zlojack/DSC02277.jpg

The Board

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v391/zlojack/DSC02279.jpg

A few of the fittings
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v391/zlojack/DSC02294.jpg

Custom Dual-chamber drivebay reservoir by CD. Designed specifically for my MM H2GO build by zlojack, built by CD.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v391/zlojack/DSC02295.jpg

Drain ports and pump mounting pics:

Here's the concept
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v391/zlojack/DSC02242.jpg

This is how the pumps will be mounted (don't freak out, if at all possible, I'll change the 90 degree fitting on the pump outlet to a 45)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v391/zlojack/DSC02285.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v391/zlojack/DSC02286.jpg


Making holes in my beautiful case was a tough thing to do
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v391/zlojack/DSC02287.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v391/zlojack/DSC02288.jpg

Pumps now mounted. I hope the BP fitting is strong enough to hold them. I may put some Petras Gel Stuff wedged underneath them to brace it and take some of the weight off of the rotary T.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v391/zlojack/DSC02289.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v391/zlojack/DSC02290.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v391/zlojack/DSC02291.jpg

Closeup
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v391/zlojack/DSC02292.jpg

[zlojack]

*reserved*

[zlojack]

*reserved for more*

[shazza]

This one looks exciting. Can't wait to see 3 loops in the H2GO case.

[j.almonte]

Good to see another H2go worklog... keep it coming

[philbrown23]

wholy mother of god! this is just your 2 go rig?!?!?! WTF! im afraid to see your normal rig.

[Utnorris]

Would the MCP355 with XSPC Res top be a better choice for space saving or are you doing T-lines? Sub'd, this will be sweet.

[2low4u]

Very nice indeed! I can't wait to see this & to do my own! Hate having to wait for parts though!

sub'd

[Linchpin]

That's going to be one hell of a build plus I'll probably pick up a few pointers for my own H2GO build. sub'd

[zlojack]

Would the MCP355 with XSPC Res top be a better choice for space saving or are you doing T-lines? Sub'd, this will be sweet.

I've already got the pumps and I've pretty much figured out how to fit them in.

CyberDruid built me a custom two-chambers single drivebay reservoir which will allow me to route the tubing effectively (I hope) to my pumps.

The pumps will be mounted to DD Fillports with Bitspower Rotary T-fittings as drains. I'll post some pics of the setup when I get some time to take them.

The two 655's will be mounted like that and the CPX will be mounted (hopefully) directly to the rad inlet with either a Koolance SLI fitting or a Bitspower Male-Male.
This will likely be used to mount the pump directly to the rad:
http://www.performance-pcs.com/catalog/images/products/cnt-vd2_01.jpg

This will be used to mount the 655's to the drain ports which will also serve to mount the pumps.
http://www.performance-pcs.com/catalog/images/products/BP-Dual%20G1-4_01.jpg

Like this:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v391/zlojack/DSC02242.jpg

I wanted to use these:
http://www.performance-pcs.com/catalog/images/products/BP-D-Plug%20Set_01.jpg

But when I tested it, it seems the weight of the pump causes it to sag a bit and it might leak, so I'll have to fiddle with the direct mounting instead with the male-male fittings.

Still waiting on a few more odds and ends and need to order some more sleeving for my PSU cables. This is going to be a very finicky build in terms of cable management and internal space.


wholy mother of god! this is just your 2 go rig?!?!?! WTF! im afraid to see your normal rig.
:D

Nah, this will be my main rig. I live in a relatively small apartment, so having a big beast of a case was sort of overwhelming. The H2GO allows for lots of cooling in a compact case, which fits my needs perfectly.

[philbrown23]

ahhh I se. still it's pretty badass.

[zlojack]

Alright, I finally got some stuff done today.

I updated the OP with the update to my build.

I'm still waiting on some parts to come in, but in the next couple of weeks I should be making some progress on this.

[MomijiTMO]

3 loops in that case? COOL

[zlojack]

3 loops in that case? COOL

I think for now I'm going to reduce it to two.

The chipset loop will either be put on hold or eliminated.

I'd rather have the tri-SLI with the extra rad I think.

I guess we'll see what temps are like.

Do you think the 120.2 could handle the three 260s?

[SAE]

Do you think the 120.2 could handle the three 260s?

Hmm, could be too much IMHO, as these are putting out some serious heat together drawing near 200W of power on load. I dunno exactly though, as I did never have never vidcards than my X1950XTX. ;)
I'd go for a 120.3 for triple SLI. That should have enough power to handle them nicely.

[zlojack]

Hmm, could be too much IMHO, as these are putting out some serious heat together drawing near 200W of power on load. I dunno exactly though, as I did never have never vidcards than my X1950XTX. ;)
I'd go for a 120.3 for triple SLI. That should have enough power to handle them nicely.

That's what I'm thinking.

I'll have a 120.2 and a 120.1 in the same loop for the video cards.

I'll have to use spotcooling fans for the chipset if it starts to get too hot.

[Utnorris]

NCIXUS.com has the PA120.3 on sale for around $80 right now if you are interested.

[zlojack]

120.3 won't work with my case :D

[Spankyfart]

NCIXUS.com has the PA120.3 on sale for around $80 right now if you are interested.


Damn thats about 33% off from what I need to pay for them.
Someone send me two of those as "second hand".
No vat on second hand stuff ;)

[CedricFP]

So you will be mounting the second 120.2 on the outside? How do you feel about that with regard to the case aesthetic?

[SAE]

120.2 and an additional 120.1 should do the same job as a single 120.3 IMO. I do not have any room inside my new Lian Li PC-A17A, I think even a 120.2 would be hard to fit. So I will mount my NexXxoS Xtreme III 360 Rev.2 (lol) in the back of my case, as there already are some openings for tubing above the 120mm blowhole.

[zlojack]

So you will be mounting the second 120.2 on the outside? How do you feel about that with regard to the case aesthetic?

Well, the case is designed for the 120.2 on the back. I think it looks good, plus, it's not really going to be that visible.

Check this thread for how it looks (http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=174525&highlight=H2GO)

That's what I'm going for.


Meanwhile, I got some more work done. Up 'til 2AM last night with this!!!

Cable sleeving pics:

Here's where I started.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v391/zlojack/DSC02296.jpg

Here's what I ended up with:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v391/zlojack/DSC02299.jpg

I still need to do the PCIE cables. I have to order more sleeving!!!
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v391/zlojack/DSC02300.jpg

Not perfect, but not bad for the first time ever.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v391/zlojack/DSC02297.jpg

I also sleeved the power switch cable.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v391/zlojack/DSC02302.jpg

[zlojack]

Here's some more sleeving. SATA cables done!!

Here they are (along with a little Sunday thirst-quencher!!)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v391/zlojack/DSC02303.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v391/zlojack/DSC02304.jpg

Alright, next up, I need some input.

I was planning on going with a fan filter up front with a chrome grill on top for my front panel like this:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v391/zlojack/DSC02305.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v391/zlojack/DSC02306.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v391/zlojack/DSC02307.jpg

I saw these:
http://www.jab-tech.com/images/D/d_1532-01.jpg

The benefit being, I can remove the filter without removing the screws for the rad mounting and everything. I already get a ton of dust (just in the several weeks I was running with those filters and the chrome grills I had huge dust buildup). Having the ability to clean the filters without dismounting the front rads and the hardrives in the lower part of the case is a huge, massive bonus.

Hmmm I think I've almost talked myself into it.

[CedricFP]

I see. I always thought external rads ruined a case's look, but I'm a huge fan of internal builds. In fact, in my H2g0 I am going to try and experiment to see if 2 BIP Pros (only 25mm thick) will fit inside with fans in the back of the case (where a PA120.2 would be mounted on the outside). The only thing I am worried about is the performance trade-off between 2 BIP pro 120.1 rads and a single PA120.2 rad.

BTW, those fan filters look very handy. Where did you find them?

[zlojack]

I see. I always thought external rads ruined a case's look, but I'm a huge fan of internal builds. In fact, in my H2g0 I am going to try and experiment to see if 2 BIP Pros (only 25mm thick) will fit inside with fans in the back of the case (where a PA120.2 would be mounted on the outside). The only thing I am worried about is the performance trade-off between 2 BIP pro 120.1 rads and a single PA120.2 rad.

BTW, those fan filters look very handy. Where did you find them?

Those are from Performance PCs or Jab-Tech. Probably other places as well.

I would love for it to be all internal, but with tri-SLI and wanting to use Thermochill radiators, I'd be fooling myself.

Given that the rear of the case will be in a corner and not visible, the aesthetics work for me.

[bench2die]

VERY nice bulid man, keep the pictures coming :)

[zlojack]

VERY nice bulid man, keep the pictures coming :)
Thanks dude. :)

I've just ordered the RAM (Mushkin 3x2 1600MHz 7-8-7-20)

The first of what could end up being 3 GTX 260 Core 216s should also arrive in the next few days. If my order of fittings gets here I could have the single-card system up and running next week some time, at least for testing. Depending on how the GTX 285s turn out, I'll either go for two more 260s or step up my current one and get two more 285s.

Of course, still waiting on the EK adaptor for 1366 :down:

I'm tempted to try out the Koolance 350 pending some test results.

[Baleful]

Looking good man. You're crazy to sleeve all those damn cables...... damn I'm lazy lol.

[zlojack]

Here's an update from a few days ago testing the system out on air while waiting for some more components:

Messy cables alert! This is going to be PITA on the final build. I might have to mod some of those cables to make them shorter.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v391/zlojack/DSC02310.jpg

Together at last!
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v391/zlojack/DSC02311.jpg

Adios, crappy Intel TIM
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v391/zlojack/DSC02312.jpg

Not for the faint of heart. Yes... I know...it's a...a... STOCK COOLER!!!!!
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v391/zlojack/DSC02314.jpg

All together minutes prior to the disappointment
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v391/zlojack/DSC02315.jpg

[shazza]

Disappointment ??? Looks like you're making great progress, but I'm guessing something went wrong ????

[zlojack]

Yeah, my 8800 GTS died (it was just a backup.)

I've got the pics ready now for today's update.

Alright! I got two separate packages today!

One from NCIX and one from Sidewinder!
All I need now are a few more things (EK 1366 mounts and some sleeving stuff and some soldering gear) and I'll be able to finish the build!

Here's what was in the one from Sidewinder!
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v391/zlojack/DSC02322.jpg

And here's what was in the one from NCIX:

I must say, this block looks a hell of a lot better in person than it did in the pics I saw.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v391/zlojack/DSC02325.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v391/zlojack/DSC02326.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v391/zlojack/DSC02327.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v391/zlojack/DSC02328.jpg

Nice reflection!
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v391/zlojack/DSC02329.jpg

And now the card!
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v391/zlojack/DSC02330.jpg

EVGA comes very well-packaged and came with Far Cry 2!
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v391/zlojack/DSC02331.jpg

All the goodies:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v391/zlojack/DSC02332.jpg

The card itself
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v391/zlojack/DSC02333.jpg

Side view
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v391/zlojack/DSC02334.jpg

Another angle
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v391/zlojack/DSC02337.jpg

Back of the card:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v391/zlojack/DSC02335.jpg

And the connectors
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v391/zlojack/DSC02336.jpg

[zlojack]

And then I put it in my rig:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v391/zlojack/DSC02338.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v391/zlojack/DSC02339.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v391/zlojack/DSC02340.jpg

And it seems to be running fine!!!
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v391/zlojack/GTX260216.jpg

[PsYcHoNo0b727]

Nice work so far man :up:

I got a DD Teiton too for my GTX 280 and I have to agree, its much sexier looking in person than on the website anywhere. Mines copper tho, wish I got the mirrored silver like you do :(

[mstrmold]

Here's an update from a few days ago testing the system out on air while waiting for some more components:

Messy cables alert! This is going to be PITA on the final build. I might have to mod some of those cables to make them shorter.


I feel your pain. I had the same issues when routing my cables for my dual loop H2G0. Good luck with routing it cleanly. Looks good so far. :up:

[Paxi]

Any updates on your build ? :)

[SGwillis]

liking the look of this one, keep up the good work:up:

[anubis_is_evil]

real nice zlojack :D

especially that BP goodies...

btw what size of sleeving that you use there for sata cable ?, darn they comes really good..

keep it going..

[NysoO]

Nice sleeving. Got a HX1000 as well. Really good PSU.
Keep it up!

[zlojack]

The rest of the build:

Well I decided to start off the year working on my case so on New Year's Day I pulled everything apart and got to work. Basically I had to cut some holes, sleeve some cables and install the watercooling...so...almost nothing (yeah right!)

I got the pumps installed fairly easily along with the PSU and the HDD and Optical drive, fan controller and dual-chamber reservoir
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v391/zlojack/DSC02341.jpg

Here's a closer shot of the pumps. I ended up putting foam between the pump and the floor of the case, which supports the pump nicely so the drain port isn't taking all the weight.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v391/zlojack/DSC02342.jpg

Here's the rear of the case with the 120.1
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v391/zlojack/DSC02343.jpg

Here's the evidence of the DUMBEST THING I'VE DONE THIS YEAR SO FAR! (I know it's still early :D) Anyway, trying to cut a hole with a holesaw around an existing hole is not a good idea. The holesaw jumped and look at the result. I'm going to touch it up with some car touchup paint :(
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v391/zlojack/DSC02345.jpg

Here are the pump intakes. For some reason, when I did my mockup, I could use compression fittings on the CPU pump inlet and res outlet, but this time it wouldn't work. Good thing I had some regular 3/8" fittings around!!
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v391/zlojack/DSC02346.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v391/zlojack/DSC02349.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v391/zlojack/DSC02350.jpg

Here's the pump outlet to the GPU loop.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v391/zlojack/DSC02347.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v391/zlojack/DSC02348.jpg

A shot of the rear panel with the hole I made for the fan cables. The cables are spliced together and lead to one header on the fan controller so I control the whole loop with one knob.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v391/zlojack/DSC02351.jpg

Here are the inlets for the rear rads. My Dremel skills leave something to be desired. I've learned a lot during this build, unfortunately, the case was the victim :(
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v391/zlojack/DSC02352.jpg

Now to the motherboard tray and some tubing runs to the top of the case. I decided to sleeve the tubing and I think it turned out pretty nice! :D At least it will help me forget about the Dremel disaster...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v391/zlojack/DSC02353.jpg


The motherboard: EVGA X58 SLI with EK Supreme installed (I sold the Gigabyte)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v391/zlojack/DSC02354.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v391/zlojack/DSC02355.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v391/zlojack/DSC02356.jpg

[zlojack]

Alright...so after getting the bottom half of the case out of the way, it was time to get the top tubing done. This was actually pretty easy and fun...even though the BP fittings chewed up my fingers nicely when tightening :D

Here's the CPU loop:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v391/zlojack/DSC02357.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v391/zlojack/DSC02358.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v391/zlojack/DSC02359.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v391/zlojack/DSC02361.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v391/zlojack/DSC02362.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v391/zlojack/DSC02364.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v391/zlojack/DSC02366.jpg

And the GPU loop:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v391/zlojack/DSC02367.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v391/zlojack/DSC02368.jpg

And some overall shots (ready to be filled)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v391/zlojack/DSC02369.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v391/zlojack/DSC02370.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v391/zlojack/DSC02371.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v391/zlojack/DSC02372.jpg

Now filled and bleeding.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v391/zlojack/DSC02373.jpg

[zlojack]

Alright, here are some shots of the build as it stands. There are still some details to be finalized, but it's close. Of course, now that I'm switching video cards, I'll have to reconfigure the loop a bit, but this will be good for now!

Here are the pics:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v391/zlojack/DSC02374.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v391/zlojack/DSC02375.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v391/zlojack/DSC02377.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v391/zlojack/DSC02378.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v391/zlojack/DSC02379.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v391/zlojack/DSC02380.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v391/zlojack/DSC02381.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v391/zlojack/DSC02382.jpg

I went for some closeups and stuff...just having some fun. :o
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v391/zlojack/DSC02384.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v391/zlojack/DSC02385.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v391/zlojack/DSC02386.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v391/zlojack/DSC02387.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v391/zlojack/DSC02388.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v391/zlojack/DSC02390.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v391/zlojack/DSC02391.jpg

And some shots with the panels on:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v391/zlojack/DSC02395.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v391/zlojack/DSC02398.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v391/zlojack/DSC02399.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v391/zlojack/DSC02400.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v391/zlojack/DSC02401.jpg

[zlojack]

Testing out the lighting with the red CCFL. I've put one under the near window below the acrylic mobo tray and the other above the window. It looks a lot brighter in the pic than it actually is.

I don't like the blue lights on the front :( I need to figure out a way to reverse them so they shine red. They're too damn bright. I remember a mod someone did where they reversed the lights so I'm going to do that.

Anyway, here are the pics. The CCFL kit comes with a connector for a 3-pin header, so I can control the on/off from the Rheobus for both lights!

I'm thinking white CCFLs might do better with my black/silver theme, so those will be ordered soon!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v391/zlojack/DSC02404.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v391/zlojack/DSC02405.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v391/zlojack/DSC02406.jpg

[CheetoPet]

Hell yeah!! I love the braid on the tubes & the heat shrink just makes it look totally sharp, might have to borrow your idea. I've got an h2go I'm working on right now. Well... had it built but sprung a leak, drained it & decided to take the opportunity to fix a couple 'design decisions'. Your drain ports out the bottom are total genius, I'm been mulling the fill / drain thing quite a bit as doing it well in this case seems to be a bit of a challenge.

[NysoO]

Wow man! Nice work! Can imagine that comp looking real tasty irl with all the sleeving and chrome fittings. Those are 3/8" - 1/2" as stated in your first post, yes? Think it looks really, really good!

[zlojack]

Hell yeah!! I love the braid on the tubes & the heat shrink just makes it look totally sharp, might have to borrow your idea. I've got an h2go I'm working on right now. Well... had it built but sprung a leak, drained it & decided to take the opportunity to fix a couple 'design decisions'. Your drain ports out the bottom are total genius, I'm been mulling the fill / drain thing quite a bit as doing it well in this case seems to be a bit of a challenge.
Yeah, that was a tough one to figure out. I think if I did this one again, I'd go with DDC as opposed to D5 pumps to maximize space efficiency.

Wow man! Nice work! Can imagine that comp looking real tasty irl with all the sleeving and chrome fittings. Those are 3/8" - 1/2" as stated in your first post, yes? Think it looks really, really good!

Thanks! Yes 3/8"-1/2" tubing.

[CheetoPet]

Yeah, that was a tough one to figure out. I think if I did this one again, I'd go with DDC as opposed to D5 pumps to maximize space efficiency.

True, esp given the number of aftermarket res options. I've no experience with a DDC but from what I've read, they're significantly louder than the D5. Any idea?

Out of curiousity, why did you mount the 2 rear fans outside the case? Hard to tell form the pics but it looks like theres still room on the inside for them.

[syc]

Nice job! :clap: