My first all out case build worklog (56k warning)....

Hello everyone. Been reading these forums for a long time and been a member for a few months now. I've gotten some really good info and ideas off of here and while it's going to be a bit before my new beast of a computer is done, I figure I'd start with my worklog that I have so far.

The things I still have to purchase (there is a bit, BTW). I'm probably going to get after some Christmas shopping gets done, but hopefully this will be done (or mostly done) be the 1st of the new year.

Main stuff:
Thermaltake Armor case /w 250mm fan side. DFI LanParty UT 790FX-M2R (still have to purchase)
AMD Phenom (have to purchase)
4GB RAM (you guessed it, have to purchase)
ATI 3870 (have to purchase)
1x 320GB Seagate Sata hard drive
2x 40gb hard drives
2x dvd-rw drives
Antec TruePower II 550w power supply (would like to get PC power & cooling PSU...I'll see if Santa thinks I was good enough this year)
2x 92mm Sharkloon Golfball
5x 120mm Sharkloon Golfball
Alphacool Multi-Power Port fan controller
Two monitors (one 19" lcd and one 17" crt....want to toss this piece o' crap out, but it still works for now)
Logitech x530 5.1 speakers
X-raypad for mousepad
Need to get a good gaming mouse, but low on the list of priorities right now

Watercooling:
so far I have a Thermochill PA 120.2 with a Swiftech Radbox mount.
I have a DangerDen MagII LE pump (going to get Ehiem 1250 to add in series with this and I have a Criticool relay card to trip the Ehiem up)
~15ft Tygon 2603 3/8 ID tubing.
Smart coils
Swiftech MicroRes
DangerDen Fillport
that's pretty much it on the watercooling side so far. Going to wait to finish off my loop until I have all the rest of the computer set up (m/b, ram, processor, video card, etc.) That way I know for sure what kinda stuff I'm going to need for the rest of this. Definetly going to watercool the cpu, video card and *maybe* northbridge (still debating that last one, want to see what temps are like without it first.

Now on to the good stuff...the pics so far....

Attachment 67609
this pic shows what my case looks like in a millions pieces and unpainted (not too exciting)

Attachment 67610

Showing speakers, monitors, keyboard, PSU, the 250mm fan, x-raypad, and the thermochill rad with the radbox and fans already hooked up...

Attachment 67611

More pieces of the case....amazing how many pieces it breaks down to when you totally strip it

Attachment 67612

hard drives, box of new parts (so far) and PSU side-shot

More to come.....

AWESOME looking 4ward to more updates!

right now....

So, the case is getting painted right now (hence why it's in a million pieces in previous pics) color to be gunmetal (preview shot below).

So, I'm getting a powder coat done on the case. The metal parts are going to look really, really nice....however, getting the plastic bits match it has proven to be a PITA.

Attachment 67613

Top metal piece is the powder coating color, bottom on the can is the auto paint color I found to match it reasonably well.

Attachment 67616

Equipment needed to apply paint to plastics. This make-shift spray paint thing is kinda cool.

Attachment 67615

My two front test pieces. Hopefully they turn out all right (sorry for the blurry pic). Hopefully I can get a better looking one when they dry.

More soon....

dang it, beat me to my own thread..... :p:

Notes on things I forgot to include on my hardware list. Going to be running Zerex/Distilled water through the loop with some UV Blue coloring
I have two 12" AC Ryan CCFL lights
Radiator is already flushed/cleaned out....trust me for those of you that have never done it....twas quite gross.

quick question....

I was thinking of actually keeping the original grill color on these as I think it gives a nice contrast to the darker gunmetal. What do you guys think?

Attachment 67617

Do NOT mix pumps in the same loop. The poor little Mag with burn out first and then you'll be left with just the Eheim. The Mag would be well suited to a chipset loop by itself with anything but a GTS/GTX rad.

Why the Eheim? There are better 12VDC pumps like the DDC 3.X and the D5.

Yeah, I knew the Eheim was a better pump. That's why I wanted to get it for my loop. I did not however know that one pump would burn out another one. Quite the opposite actually. I figured that in case one burned out, the other one would take over for it. How would the Eheim burn out the Mag II? Would the Mag II not be able to keep up with the flow or something maybe?

since you have the oblivion manual and that's my favorite game i shall follow this log intently :D but only if the manual is in more pics ;)

nice start on this work log. keep the pictures coming...

can i have the 250mm fan? =P nice build btw!

@Origin Maybe I could make a where's waldo thing out of it, eh?
@Septim Thanks, in the next few days with Thanksgiving and some crappy weather here, I might not be able to get my plastics done, but I'm going to try. Have to get some sandpaper because the two pieces I did above came out kinda crappy and I'm going to have to re-work them. Also, still have to wait like a week to get the case back from the place I dropped it off at to get it powder coated. I feel like a little kid at Christmas waiting for this.
@Boogerlad Thanks, I think they actually sell those 250mm fans at Performance-pcs (and the one there light up). Also, if I gave it to you, what would I put in the big spot on the side of my case where it went? ;)

The Mag will burn out because your asking it....no, make that, demanding it spin faster than it was designed to.

Well, unfortunately because I'm a dolt not going to have some more pics for a few days. The test pieces did not turn out that well. I got some sandpaper and sanded down the two pieces and now they are ready to be painted again. I think I got the technique down better now so I think I can get a more even coat now.

Me being an idiot has to come into play here though, of course. I didn't really think about it before I left the paint sit for a day (with hardener mixed in it) inside the spray can. Now I can't spray it (dang it) because the paint in unable to be sprayed (too hard in there). Yeah, I'm a dolt. :am:

The paint place I got that spray can from is closed until Monday......crap.

Good news to anyone that has checked out this thread so far....got a new spray can and will have some pictures of the plastic pieces on here later on tonight. Case itself should be back later on this week. I'm giddy (that's right, I said it) with excitement.

Dont buy an Eheim pump :o
Go for a Laing DCC of a Laing D5! Best pumps around for wc'ing ;)

Your first choice should be the D5 because is industrial quality and highly reliable.

Thanks, I will keep those two in mind. I was thinking the Eheim because I had read good things about them, liked the looks of them and also wanted a solid AC pump (I have a relay card I wanted to put to good use). I'm not dead set on getting that, just my thoughts so far.

Well, as far as the painting goes. I got most of the plastics done. Unfortunetly though I ran into another snag. I got another spray bottle today, but ran out of propellant before I finished the paint job.

Attachment 67876

Components all laid out before painting.

Attachment 67877

In this pic and the one below it turned out pretty nice, I'm actually quite impressed. Not all is well of course though. It actually looks better in person.

Attachment 67878

Nice and shiney. Need a little extra on the one wall there of course.

Attachment 67879

Of course, before I got a chance to finish painting this, the spray can ran out. And of course and luck would have it, the last of the paint in there, so have to get more paint. *sigh* Sometimes I think nothing is ever easy. Still, I'm having a pretty good time on this project and learning to work with a few new things.

Any comments on what I have so far is much appreciated. Hopefully in the next few days I can pick up some more paint and get this crap done. Also, the main part of the case should be back from the shop in the next few days.

im excited to see the paint job, on my custom case i just used rustoleum, and it looks okay but would have perferred a more professional method.

Good work!!

That makes two of us locke. I was hoping it would be back by now, but with the Thanksgiving holiday last week, I guess it's not ready yet. Nice avatar, BTW.

On a side note to everyone, I was thinking of adding a second PA 120.2 (mounted in the front area where the drive bays are) would it be more effective to
a) have a second loop with video card(s) (powered by my Mag II LE pump) or b) should I keep it on the oppisite end of my loop from the other radiator and have dual cooling on the same loop?
I'm probably not going to be cooling the chipsets or mosfets unless the temps are crazy if I end up getting the DFI LanParty motherboard (it has a triple heatpipe assemply that goes between the north/southbridges and the mosfets.

well this is xtream systems, here usually two loops are better than one! although most would concede that you don't really need two loops in most circumstances.

a second pa could cut down on your flow quite a bit. Have you checked the flow chart here and marci's airflow chart? use them to determine how much air and flow you need absed on what you want to use.

http://www.over-clock.com/ivb/index.php?showtopic=20277
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...d.php?t=151627

try these if you haven't. two pa's would be better if using very low flow fans, a good silent choice. also alot of people say to stay away form mags, so you may want to check on those. i like the mcp 655 and 355.

Well, I already have a Mag II LE from my previous build, so that's the only reason why I would use it. I think if I get a decent enough pump it shouldn't kill my flow rate too much. As mentioned at the top of this thread, I have Sharkloon Golfball fans, and when they are unvolted to 7v, they are very quiet. I have enough extra fans right now to put on a second 2x PA np.

I have checked out those two threads, but since I haven't gotten my blocks yet, I can't determine 100% what my flow rate would be.

Hey how are you going to mount your radiator. I see your using the swifttech rad mount box. Does it fit and align perfectly with no modification?

I have a pa120.3 with the same exact case, and dont have a clue where to mount it. I was thinking external above the case? Let me know

@pikkashoe The rear 120mm hole next to the motherboard i/o area is perfect to mount the 2x rad. No mod needed at all. I'm going to route the tubing through the holes that are already drilled in there. It's not perfect, but it's pretty close. However, since you have a 3x I think it might go better on the top. You could probably use some of the screw holes on the top if you use some standoffs I think. Too bad you would lose the i/o ports.

The other one (if I do get it) I think I might put in the front where the drive bays are (on the bottom most ones), but of course have to wait to get my case back to see how feasible that is. I think I saw someone on this forum somewhere do that to their armor case and it looked pretty good. They even have the hard drives back a bit in some of the slots so they didn't go to total waste.

After searching last night, I found out the swifttech rad box works with the Pa120.3, so I am going to use that to mount it on the outside of the case on top. Im also going to mount my reservoir there for easy filling and draining of the system.

Hey where did you order the sharkoon golfball 120 mm fans from ?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by pikkashoe

After searching last night, I found out the swifttech rad box works with the Pa120.3, so I am going to use that to mount it on the outside of the case on top. Im also going to mount my reservoir there for easy filling and draining of the system.

Hey where did you order the sharkoon golfball 120 mm fans from ?

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They got the 120's and the 92's on performance-pcs. I think they are like 18.95 each or something like that. Not cheap, but they are pretty good fans. Move quite a bit of air and like I said, at 7v they are very quiet (pretty much silent). 12v they are still pretty quiet.

Hey everyone that has been watching this thread.

Sorry for the lack of updates on my part. I got most of the plastic pieces painted, except for the top and the front (the two biggest pieces of course). Well, I decided I'm going to throw a PA 120.3 on the top and hook that into my 120.3 coming off of the back of the case. Here is a horrible sketch-up of that.

Attachment 68318

So really, the fact that I don't have a top is kinda a good thing because I'll put a bigger rad than I probably would've put on there (and might as well go extreme, right?) The metal pieces of the case did come back this past Monday, but after inspecting the pieces I discovered there were dust nibs and flaws all over it. The guy took it back and said it should be back by the end of the week. Shopping for my other parts for this, so it should be coming back together pretty soon.

Later,
serial099

you mean connect the PA120.3 to the loop with T-fittings?
If so, I don't think thats the best plan of action :p

Usually I know it wouldn't be, but I am using two of martinm210's copper tee fittings (instead of the plastic) so I think the flow killing aspects of it would be minimal. I *could* run seperate feed/return lines from it (as the Armor case does have 4 holes on the back of it for watercooling, and put the two rads in two seperate parts of the loop. I don't think this would acutally work as well though becuase the extra tubing would kill flow as well and also the extra tubing would get be there (not look as good). However, if this would be a better setup, don't mind doing it of course.

Also, I've read in other places on this forum that having the rad's (if there is two of them in the same loop) close to each other or further apart (on oppisite ends) of loop really doesn't effect temperatures in the loop too much.

Any of this info wrong? I guess the only concern I might have is filling/bleeding the system, but I think once that is done, it should work well.

I wish I remembered who said on here first but I believe the quote was something like "you can plan a build for weeks, but the second you hit buy you want it there right now".

So, I spent a butt-ton of money last night and I have quite a bit of stuff coming. Still no case to put it in yet though. Hopefully by the time everything gets here that'll be back as well. Starting to get a little frustrated about that, but what are you going to do, right (besides complain of course)?

The ONLY thing that I didn't purchase with this round is the processor and that's mostly because while I can't wait for the 9700 Phenoms I can wait a few more weeks for the black 9600's to be out. Also, I don't suppose anyone has any experience with ATI 38xx cards and the MCW60 do they? I checked on the switchtech site on there forums and it's only listed as "untested" right now. Until it's confirmed I'm holding off on getting that (although as soon as thumbs up is given I'm getting it if able).

How have I not seen this yet? Looks to be a good project log :)

Good luck, I'm looking forward to updates.

Yeah clockwork, it's coming together slowly but surely (despite all outside forces). Hopefully within the next week I'll have a :banana: :banana::banana: :banana: -ton of parts to throw in this thing and I'll actually have something interesting to post on here.

Thank you to everyone else who has been lurking on here and not posting (seriously). I didn't expect some fairly noob watercooler guy like me to get many views on his computer build (especially over 1,100 which is what's it's at right now). Also, in case I forget (or don't mention it later) thank you to the people that have a little more experience w/c to give me advice/nudging/guidance when I need it/ask for it.

Ok, that's enough outta me tonight. Time for some shots.......

Yeah clockwork, it's coming together slowly but surely (despite all outside forces). Hopefully within the next week I'll have a :banana: :banana::banana: :banana: -ton of parts to throw in this thing and I'll actually have something interesting to post on here.

Thank you to everyone else who has been lurking on here and not posting (seriously). I didn't expect some fairly noob watercooler guy like me to get many views on his computer build (especially over 1,100 which is what's it's at right now). Also, in case I forget (or don't mention it later) thank you to the people that have a little more experience w/c to give me advice/nudging/guidance when I need it/ask for it.

Ok, that's enough outta me tonight. Time for some shots.......

oh, one last thing.....stopped by the place that is doing the powder coating...yeah, they didn't even start on sanding it down/re-painting (this after they have had it again since Tuesday afternoon). It's been 3 weeks total this place has had it...should I be just a little pissed? I think so.....

Good evening all (or whatever time it is in your neck of the woods)

Wanted to put an update on the hardware that is on the way for this thing. It *should* start to roll in around Tuesday (of course it's Christmas time, so hopefully it doesn't get held up)

From the egg:


Logitech G9 Black 5Button Tilt Wheel Laser Mouse
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16826104079

Masscool PCI card IDE controller card (for my 2 ide dvd-rw drives)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16815280002

Sapphire 100226L Radeon HD 3850 512mb card (didn't have any 3870, and this one should probably still kick some serious :banana::banana::banana:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814102715

Corsair xms2 (2x1gb) ddr2 800 (PC26400) ram
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820145590

from Performance-pcs
Swiftech MCP655 pump
http://www.performance-pcs.com/catal...oducts_id=3112

PC Power&Cooling Silencer 750 Quad Power Supply (with black connectors I figure I can sleeve it myself for $49 they charge)
http://www.performance-pcs.com/catal...ducts_id=20668

From motherboardpro
DFI LanParty UT 790fx-m2r
http://www.motherboardpro.com/DFI-La...ATX-p-404.html

And from Petra's
PT Nuke
D-tek Fuzion CPU waterblock
D-tek Fuzion Accelerator Nozzle Kit
D-tek High Flow Fitting (G 1/4 thread, 3/8 OD size) x5
D-tek High Flow Fitting (G 1/4 thread, 1/2 OD size) x1

I feel kinda lazy for Petra's and not going to link every product, but it's bleeding obvious where it's on on his site (shoppts.com).

Now, the more astute of you will notice no mention of a processor on this list. There is a method to that madness of mine. I'm going to get everything else together and see about waiting on the Black 9600 edition Phenom to come out later this month and snatch up one of them.

Also waiting to get something officially from Switchtech that the MCW60 does work on the 3850 before I commit to that for my block watercooling needs. Since I'll be adding that extra heat source I'm going to wait until then to get the PA 120.3 to add to this loop. Hopefully both those issues get worked out soon so that I can finish ordering these last little things.

Any comments welcome.

nice purchases you have there.

the g9 looks ungainly though, must be bad pictures i keep seeing...

Thanks,

As far a the mouse goes, it was between that and Deathadder and I say to myself "with the $20.00 mail-in rebate it's cheaper than the Deathadder is at more DPI" So, decision for me was easy. That and pretty much every mouse I've ever owned before has been a Logitech.

*edit* double-checked, ok, almost cheaper, but still a good mouse none the less

Hey everyone,

So finally got my case back finally (it looks pretty good overall). I have two more packages to get tomorrow and I should be able to get this show back on the road (as far as building). At the latest I should have a bunch of pics/work done by Saturday night. Thanks for checking this out.

Hey everyone,

Sorry for the lack of updates. I've been pretty busy with real life stuff lately. I promised the wife I was going to rebuild her pc for Christmas and have been a little busy with that plus a few other things. The new computer isn't up and running (or built) yet, but I do at least have the parts for it.

Here's some pics of what I have to put in this beast so far:

Attachment 69040

Attachment 69041
The two pictures above are just showing the items I have in boxes still.
Below is the new power supply....very nice, eh?
Attachment 69042
Look at all those connectors (with the 8 pin pci-e just in case I need it sometime)
Attachment 69043

A few more....

Here is the motherboard....the LanParty UT 790fx
The case (all painted up) is in the background.....
Attachment 69047

Here are some more shots of the case for you
Attachment 69048
Attachment 69049

That's all I got for right now. Hopefully will have some more pics soon here.

You're not gonna try and cool that thing with moonshine are you?

Looking good!

All these case mods lately makes me want to redo mine..:D

@thirstypirate funny thing you should mention that....have some of that in my liquor cabinet
@martin well, I got a few more things to do to this, but hopefully the only case mod I'm going to do to this might be putting in a drain plug (that and maybe a few holes for the pa120x3 that is going on top to mount it

@everyone else Still trying to get the wife's new re-build up and running before I finish building mine. Also, was putting together the cooling system today to leak test it and damnit, wouldn't you know, I was one fitting short.....should be by Friday and I'll have that one.....trust me, it's something I want to finish a whole bunch (more than anyone else could possibly want me to finish.

I got the paint gun at Sherwin Williams. The little spray can thing was only like $4, so that was the cheapest part of that setup. There were a few flaws in the paint job I did, but overall it wasn't too hard to master.

As stated previously though, I only painted the plastic pieces. All the metal stuff was done professionally.

What fan is this:


http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f3...fancropped.jpg

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Naja002

What fan is this:


http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f3...fancropped.jpg

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Let me see if I can find it......Ah, here it is. ;)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by serial099

..........

Main stuff:
Thermaltake Armor case /w 250mm fan side. DFI LanParty UT 790FX-M2R (still have to purchase)
........

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Ah, very first one on the list! :shocked: I didn't look beyond the other fans listed when I found those--apologies!

Not to Hijack your build log, but I am considering doing a turbine and looking at various options--can you measure that center fan hub (where all the blades come together) for me? I need the diameter in order to try to match up a spinner....

Please.......:p:

Naja Across from the fan edge to the center label area it is 95mm. It is 55mm across the label area. They sell 250mm fans on performance-pcs if you want to check those out.
http://www.performance-pcs.com/catal...ducts_id=22204

Here is an important picture to show why flushing a radiator is important (this is from my pa120x3 after a gallon worth of flushing /w distilled and 45 minutes of soaking with vinegar) new in bottle on left....not so new on right
Attachment 69455
close up of that
Attachment 69456

leak testing (wooohoooo)
Attachment 69457
Attachment 69458

Won't be at home tomorrow at all, but should have a few more pics Thursday or Friday.

Oh, and BTW, Merry Christmas to everyone!!!!

Hope you're enjoying the build.
I'd put the rads in series rather than use the T-fittings. That way all the water goes through the top rad too.

Who told you to use vinegar?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Waterlogged

Who told you to use vinegar?

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Wasn't bloody me! Thats for sure.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Jedda

Wasn't bloody me! Thats for sure.

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:rofl: Don't worry, I wasn't lookin your bloody direction. :ROTF:

About time all the vinegar references were removed from the stickys, imho.
Doesn't seem to matter how often its use is warned against, the idea of a soak in vinegar hangs around.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Jedda

About time all the vinegar references were removed from the stickys.

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unfortunately it's still in MaxxxRacer Guide To WaterCooling and Leak Testing

Quote:

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Thankfully prepping a radiator for use is a relatively simple procedure. Just follow the steps I have outlined below.

1. Flush the radiator with distilled water. I suggest getting 2-3 2.5gallon jugs and just start pouring about 2.5-3gallons of distilled through the rad.
2. Pour Distilled or De-Ionized water into radiator. - Pour until full, drain and repeat. Shaking the radiator when it is half full of water will help. Repeat this 3-5 times.
3. Following the same procedure as in step 2, repeat with vinegar.
4. Fill the radiator with vinegar, and let it sit for appx. 1 hour.
5.Flush the radiator, following the procedure of step 2. Repeat Step 3 as well.
6.Repeat Step 4.
7.Repeat Step 2.

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Hmm, yes, exactly.

Everything looks awesome so far! Keep them coming m8!

sorry im a noob but whats wrong with the vinegar, does it react with the metal fins in the rad and create something

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Waterlogged

Who told you to use vinegar?

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Old habits die hard...

Copper exposed to oxygen starts to corrode immediately. This thin layer of corrosion on the surface acts as a protective barrier. Soaking the rad in vinegar you remove this layer, only to have it formed again as soon as the etching substance (acetic acid) disappears. It's sort of a pointless exercise.

And the whitish colour of the water is due to excess flux, which can be easily removed (as Marci has written on numerous occasions) just by flushing the rad with warm distilled water.

thanx for that mate i thought it was something like that

Well, in answer to the question here, I was going by the stickey (as quoted above) as far as how to flush. I did see the note right above that quote that says that anything over 1 hour with vinegar results in damage to radiator (hence the 45 minute soak and not longer).

I thought I was doing a good job with that as well. No big deal I suppose I just wasted some time and no damage to the radiator. Leak testing is all right so far before I left the house this morning. No leaks overnight so far.

Quick question, Im at the point where I am about to leak test, but I can get my damm PSU to work unless its connected to the mobo? How do I get the psu to just plug in the wall and provide power to my pump, I noticed a bunch of people have done it like this. I have a OCZ gamestream 600 PSU. Thanks.

I mounted my PA120.3 on the top, once I have my computer up and running I will post pics.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by pikkashoe

Quick question, Im at the point where I am about to leak test, but I can get my damm PSU to work unless its connected to the mobo? How do I get the psu to just plug in the wall and provide power to my pump, I noticed a bunch of people have done it like this. I have a OCZ gamestream 600 PSU. Thanks.

I mounted my PA120.3 on the top, once I have my computer up and running I will post pics.

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You need to use a wire or paperclip to short between the green and one of the black wires on the main ATX connector. Make sure nothing else is plugged in when you do this. There will be some that say I'm wrong and that there should be some kind of load but I've got a Coolmax Fanless 480W PSU I do a lot of testing with and have accidentally left it plugged in and turned on with zero load for days at a time (once for almost 2 weeks) and all the rails check the same as the day I got it.

Thank you waterlogged! I will try this tonight.

Yeah, that's all I do to leak test. I have an old 300 watt psu that I have saved for just such a purpose. In a modern system it probably wouldn't do much good, but more leak testing it's more than adequate.

BTW, do have a few more pics to post, and probably be able to post some more pics here tomorrow. It's on my other computer on home, so don't have it right now. Just got the new Phenom BE processor today, the final piece of the puzzle so to speak.

The lack of updates has been due to a crazy schedule and also to my wife's re-build that I'm trying to get up and running. The way it's faulting out and kicking my butt has left me a bit pre-occupied with that.

Hey everyone,

Got a few pics of my video card all prepped up here. I finally got the last part of this beast the other day. Finally received my Phenom BE. I hope it isn't a disappointment like some people over on the AMD portion of these forums
have said....

Anyway, on to the pics.

Attachment 70502

Here's the 3850 video card w/o the heatsink on it....

Attachment 70503

with the waterblock perched up next to it....soon you will be as one...

Attachment 70504

waterblock/ramsinks installed....

Attachment 70505

and another one of those

A few more pics of the radiators

Attachment 70506

a picture of the thermochill pa120 with the 3x sharkloon golfball 2000's mounted on it.

Attachment 70507

a pic of both of them on the case

Attachment 70508

A close-up of the connection. If you look towards the bottom, had to add some extra spacers to make this fit good.

Attachment 70509

Figured I'd show a different view of this.

That's all for the moment, but am slowly but surely putting this together.

Wow those fans are nice! I went with plain old Yate's.

Yeah, I like 'em...not only to they look nice, but they are also pretty quiet. Yates would've been a LOT cheaper though, but *shrug* whatcha gonna do, right?

Lovin' those fan guards serial! Krull anyone? ;) Some serious cooling there..

kool, yeah serious cooling power indeed...

All right, so I just one one PITA thing done...had to drill out the case to make room for a drain plug...here's some pics of that.

Attachment 70526

On this one just holding up the fillport that will go in there. I know the brass doesn't go very well with the black, but it's on the bottom, so I doubt too many (except for you guys of course will really see it/notice it)

Attachment 70527

here is a shot of the bottom of the case if you look closely where I drilled....

Attachment 70528

you'll notice it's a little scraped up on the sides (uh-oh)

Attachment 70529

After the fillport is in however, can't even see anything though (yay)

Attachment 70530

Here is the inside of the case and showing where the pump /fill port is going to be. Before anyone asks, no, not going to use electrical tape to mount the elbow to the end of the pump, just only have two hands and needed to hold the tee. Just imagine tubing in the empty spots. Where my fingers are is where I'm going to attach some tubing and that is what going to go back out to the system.

Well, hopefully I'll have some more pics later today or tomorrow. See you later.

Hey everyone,

Well, have a few more pictures to post, but don't have anyway to get them on the computer right now because our laptop died (which is how I was reading the memory card for the camera. Hopefully that will be fixed soon enough though.

Anyway, got quite a bit more work done to the new build (pics will follow shortly after technical issues are retified of course). Got the motherboard, cpu, ram, video card, one of the hard drives, the uv lights, both dvd-r drives, the fan controller, and the rest of the water cooling system hooked up. Right now I'm leak testing it in the machine (no power on except to the pump). So far, so good on that front. The only thing I have left to do is hook everything up (don't have any of the cables installed to any of the drives yet), clean up the wires, and put on the side panels. Looking pretty good.

A little past the first of the year, but should be done pretty soon.
Thanks for checking out my work log so far everyone. More pics soon.

where the bloody hell are ya?

Well, yesterday when I posted that I was on duty (I'm in the Navy) so I was stuck on my boat. Today, I just got home a few minutes ago (super long day).

thing's a brute.

keep it up

heh, my wife said it looked like a small engine instead of like a computer (yeah, she's not the computer person in the house at all if you couldn't tell).

So, don't have the laptop up and running yet, but did pull the new card reader/floppy drive out of the new computer the result is I have a few more pics to post.

Attachment 70766

Here is the pump/micros res setup. I had to think for a bit where to situate this at in the case, but I think I picked a good spot based on the way it looks.

Attachment 70767

Rheobus Fan Speed controller is in the back, just in case you were wondering.

Attachment 70768

Here is what I have right now with plenty of back-lighting.

Attachment 70769

Things brighten up a bit when we turn off the lights.

Attachment 70770

I've never had UV lighting before, but I'm digging the results.

That all I have for tonight. The leak testing is done I do believe there are no leaks in the system. Like I said before in this thread, only a few things left and this beast is built.

More to come.

Damn, looks like the rad is about to fall off the case!

i rekon!!! hahaha

I know, I've checked it a 1000 times, but it's on there tight and not going anywhere.....well, unless I rip it off, but seriously, who would do that to their machine?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by serial099

I know, I've checked it a 1000 times, but it's on there tight and not going anywhere.....well, unless I rip it off, but seriously, who would do that to their machine?

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Maybe my accident... have you ever considered like a 120mm "backplate" for the rad?

well, it's hooked into the back of the computer via a swiftech radbox now. what exactly do you mean by a 120mm backplate? Like a support bracket or something I assume? Just so you are aware of my setup, it's hooked into the 80mm holes on a 120mm fan slot (and atm the 120 fan is installed). If you have another suggestion on how to do this, I'm all ears of course. It's need to be placed pretty much exactly where it is though, because otherwise I couldn't hook both rads up in series like they are now.

Maybe like an empty 80mm fan frame in the inside of the case, so the screws for the radbox to all the way through the fan frame, case, to the radbox.

Follow?

I'll look into that. Have to get up super early tomorrow, so off for tonight however.....

Serial099 great build. Im almost done with my Armor build too, just got in my Dtek pro mount tonight. Quick question, I see you put the microres down low in the case. I was under the impression your supposed to have the resevoir as high as possible in the loop. Is there any advantage to have it where you put it. Reason I ask, is currently I have my pa120.3 up on top of the case like you, with the resevoir mounted to the side of the swiftech box, but I dont like all the tubes outside the case in the rear. Im thinking about putting it back in the case (the res).

It's too damn early....yeah, I'm up at 430 in the morning. Anyway, no real advantage to that except that less tubing is involved. Also, I wanted to set it up so my upper drive bays were the ones being used (the case is going to be on the floor, so it would be more convenient/closer for me). It did take a bit longer to get the loop built/bled than I remember it taking with my old loop (especially since some things are mounted weird like the 120.3 flat and the 120.2 upside down) but it's on there now together and running good. Just put it in there and keep cycling the pump on and off. Eventually all the bubbles will get out of the loop.

nice, it looks sturdy enough. but like they suggested, an old 80mm fan, preferably non working, rip out the blades and center motor, and use that external square to help balance the radbox...

nice tidy loop you have there. i like...

I dont mean to be a friggin killjoy or anything so don't take this the wrong way. But have you thought about maybe getting a case you could fit all this into to? The way it is it almost looks like the case doesn't want to be there.

Poor screws, I doesn't want to be there when they will snap off !

As others said, you need to consolidate this since it's also possible you can distort the case rear by a accidental bump.

Actually I'm a goofus. The pic I took up there that said here it is with plenty of backlighting. Well, I took that pic before I installed the w/c loop (in case you couldn't tell). As far as the 80mm/radbox thing wondering about this do you guys mean put an 80mm fan square in a (inside radbox), b (between radbox and case) or c (on inside of computer case where it bolts into).

Attachment 70810

put it on B so the screws won't hold the whole weight and spread it along the 80mm fan box.

Well, after a quick look around don't have any 80mm fans, but do have 92mm ones that came off of this case that I'm not going to be using for anything. Guess I could strip those out and see how it goes (there are places for me to move the radbox around a bit so no worries on that). Also, instead of having a screw in a spacer (the black things below) and spacers themselves (the silver things) maybe if I get some bigger, longer screws it might hold the weight a little better. I think that these screws in here now are only #6 screws ATM.

Attachment 70818

Haha, and I thought the Tt Armor was monstrous on its own.. D:

So, here's the plan...just have to wait a few days to get parts in to implement it. Got some new extra long screws, some bigger washers and some nuts from Mc-master Carr and got a el-cheapo $2 80mm fan from newegg and going to throw that on there. Should tighten up that back end where the radbox is a bit (hopefully).

Have to wait for that newegg stuff to come in (should be at the latest by Tuesday) to get the computer all up and running. Am able to pull bios up now, but don't have a hard drive to install windows to (I have a 320gb in there right now, but I'm using it for storage only and it has stuff on it anyway, so I can't really do a format/fresh install off of that).

Will have some pics of the beast up and running as soon as all that is straightened out.

Here we go a few pics of the system idling in bios....nothing too exciting, but at least everything is working (and no leaks too, yay!)

Attachment 70882

This shows how tall this thing is in relation to my desk. Unfortunetly, even w/o feet on it, it's still way too tall to fit in it, under it, or in front of it (can't open drawer). So, it's home is going to have to be off to the side I suppose.

Attachment 70883

Here is a bios screen shot of the health of the pc after about 1 hour idling in bios. Core temp is sweet, but the chipset/vcore temps blow. I'm not thinking it will be so good after running some stress tests.

In my newegg order that's on it's way I have a fan to hook up to the transpiper unit on the back of this. Hopefully that will knock at least a few degrees off of this. Would thermal paste somewhere on the heatpipe assembly help out as well? If so, would it be better to put it on the heatpipe itself that goes out the back or on the hold down plate for it or what exactly?

That's going to be all I have for a few days, but I'll make sure I post some more shots when I get something up and running on it. It's pretty darn close to the end now (well, the initial build, I'm sure I'll tinker on this forever).

Things left to do:

Install os hard drive
Install os
Install fan on transpiper for nb/sb/mosfet heatpipe assembly
Zip ties wires on inside
Install floppy drive/card reader
Put on side panels
Tigthen up mounting on back of case where radbox is

got those on performance-pcs. What kind of case are you using pikkashoe? you might have to use 2 radboxes (one on each end) of the pa120x3 for enough support just so you know.

Eventually I'd like to run a line from the top of my res to the top of case for filling, so it's not 100% done by any means. I figure that's not that big of a deal, so I'll just wait until I need to order something off another site that sells the DD fillports before I take care of that.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by mike8913

I dont mean to be a friggin killjoy or anything so don't take this the wrong way. But have you thought about maybe getting a case you could fit all this into to? The way it is it almost looks like the case doesn't want to be there.

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Sorry I didn't respond to this sooner, but was thinking about maybe getting a mountain mod case a long time ago, but at the time I got this case (was almost a year ago now) I just didn't have that little bit extra to spend.

Also, all the pictures I have on here are of the sides off, but on the left-side panel there is a huge 250mm fan installed, so there are other reasons why I got this case. Also, sometime after I got this case (actually fairly recently) is when I decided to get the 120x3 rad and throw it on top. With just the 120x2 on there it doesn't look nearly as messy and cramped, but wanted to get a little extra cooling power. One last thing, I spent like $100 getting this thing painted (not to mention how long I had to wait on the place to get it back to me) so if I did get another case and get it painted it would probably cost upwards of $400 or more just so it fits a little better.

I'm sure for my next case it'll be bigger and badder (this one is light years ahead of my last computer), but for now I'll make due with what I have. Thanks for the comment though.

Wow, lookin great! I'm goin with the 120.2 + Swiftech too

Romain, do you have the same TT armor case?

wow nice cooling like :up: :up: :up: hot pc setup like :D :D i used to do my own modding too but i just started to get into water cooling so ill get some pics of my rig when i am sorted :D :D