Project: Azul {..Obsidian 800D..} Worklog

Hey guys, i'm working on my first water cooling project. I purchased my PC from cyberpowerpc, After using the PC for over an year now and doing quite some research on water cooling...i have finally decided to get my hands dirty and water cool my rig :yepp:.

First of all have a look at my current setup.. ( It sucks !! :ROTF:)
Forgive me if the pics quality ain't that good(i dont have a SLR yet ) ..i'm noob guys so i will need help from you guys..

http://i750.photobucket.com/albums/x...f/P1010740.jpg

http://i750.photobucket.com/albums/x...f/P1010744.jpg

I'm going to upgrade some hardware and also liquid cool my CPU + GPUs

Here's the hardware list:

Case: Corsair Obsidian 800D
MB: EVGA 790i SLI ultra
CPU: Intel Core 2 Extreme QX9650 Yorkfield 3.0GHz
Memory: CORSAIR XMS3 4GB (4 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333MHz
GPU: eVGA Geforce 285 GTX FTW edition (1GB) SLI
PSU: Thermaltake toughpower 1000W
Fan controller: Scythe Kaze server

Water cooling parts:
Radiator: HWLabs Blackice GTX 360
Fans: Panaflo 120x38mm ultra high speed (3) in push :confused:
Reservoir: Primochill typhoon III(decided to use this after reading big thread right here on XS :rofl:)
Pump: Swiftech D5 vario(that wasn't hard to guess with T3)
CPU block: HK 3.0 LGA 775
GPU block: DD GTX 285 v2
coolant: distilled water + PT Nuke + Primochill dye bomb (UV blue)
Tubing: Tygon R3603 3/8 ID 5/8 OD

Everything is ready except the case and fans, I'm expecting the case to be here tomorrow, i'll post pics from case soon.. I'll also be sleeving most of my cables


Here are the pics from above hardware:

http://i750.photobucket.com/albums/x...f/P1010812.jpg

http://i750.photobucket.com/albums/x...f/P1010854.jpg

cable sleeving gear :up:

http://i750.photobucket.com/albums/x...f/P1010849.jpg

http://i750.photobucket.com/albums/x...f/P1010830.jpg

http://i750.photobucket.com/albums/x...f/P1010865.jpg

Thats its for today, guys let me know if something doesn't look right

Quote:

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Originally Posted by badboyze

Thats its for today, guys let me know if something doesn't look right

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Your cable management sure as hell doesn't! :D
But doesn't matter, lets see how your new project turns out, good luck! :up:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by zalbard

Your cable management sure as hell doesn't! :D
But doesn't matter, lets see how your new project turns out, good luck! :up:

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Yup, cosmos s is a great case but.. cable management is not easy
It looks like a bird's nest eh :rofl:

Looking forward to seeing what you do with the Obsidian case.

Yay! got my case today, believe me guys its huge :p:
everything looked good except a small paint chip/scratch on the front aluminum panel.

http://i750.photobucket.com/albums/x...f/P1010889.jpg

http://i750.photobucket.com/albums/x...f/P1010890.jpg

http://i750.photobucket.com/albums/x...f/P1010891.jpg

http://i750.photobucket.com/albums/x...f/P1010892.jpg

http://i750.photobucket.com/albums/x...f/P1010910.jpg

paint chip/scratch .. damn you UPS :(

http://i750.photobucket.com/albums/x...f/P1010893.jpg

obsidian goodies :p:

http://i750.photobucket.com/albums/x...f/P1010897.jpg

5-1/4" drive rails need to dremel'd to get T3 in, also have to figure out screw positions on this.. T3 has very weird screw socket locations

http://i750.photobucket.com/albums/x...f/P1010899.jpg

Front bezel removed ..
http://i750.photobucket.com/albums/x...f/P1010901.jpg

Hot swap drive bays also safe :up:

http://i750.photobucket.com/albums/x...f/P1010904.jpg

Radiator prep'd with vinegar and then distilled water

http://i750.photobucket.com/albums/x...f/P1010815.jpg

Some cable sleeving in progress..
This is the first time i have ever tried cable sleeving, final result looks fantastic and definitely take lots of time and you need tons of patience
But hey its worth it :D

http://i750.photobucket.com/albums/x...f/P1010848.jpg

http://i750.photobucket.com/albums/x...f/P1010924.jpg

i'm not sleeving two pci-e cables because i don't want to disturb the ferrite ring

http://i750.photobucket.com/albums/x...f/P1010877.jpg

http://i750.photobucket.com/albums/x...f/P1010873.jpg

http://i750.photobucket.com/albums/x...f/P1010869.jpg

HK3.0 mounted and did some quick test for pci hole alignment..
gtx 285's holes aligned with little effort but my wifi card never did :(

http://i750.photobucket.com/albums/x...f/P1010915.jpg

Mounted T3 .. its wasn't easy to figure out screw holes and i did some drilling .. I think primochill did a ver bad job while designing this part of the res.. other than that its a really good res and bleeds air really fast :up:

Leak testing in progress..

Loop1 : T3->Gtx 360 (rad) -> HK 3.0 (cpu blk) -> T3
Loop2 : T3->Gtx 285 SLI -> T3

http://i750.photobucket.com/albums/x...f/P1010916.jpg

http://i750.photobucket.com/albums/x...f/P1010917.jpg

Got some more air to bleed :mad:

http://i750.photobucket.com/albums/x...f/P1010918.jpg

GTX 360 rad was easy to mount, just needed the right screws which are almost impossible to find in US because it uses M4 screws(metric)
luckily sears hardware came in handy

http://i750.photobucket.com/albums/x...f/P1010919.jpg

scythe kaze server in action :yepp:
http://i750.photobucket.com/albums/x...f/P1010921.jpg

More updates soon..

T3 barbs started leaking in no time :rofl: it was just dripping ..
Replaced all 4 with bitspower barbs and it looks good for now..
If it happens again i'll replace the stock o-rings with #9 O-rings (Thanks to vapor and millertime for sharing all the secrets of T3 :p:)

sweet :D
going to follow this

Yea, the T3 is a bit of a pain to install on those tool less drive bays. Are you getting a faceplate for it? The black one would look really sweet with that case. :yepp:

The more i see it, the more I like this case. Show some photos of the backside. I am curios how good the cable management really is.

looking good man!

but why not have mounted the radiator the other way i,e the inlet/outlet at the front (near to reservoir)..would have looked neater imo

also, you stated for loop2 ''T3->Gtx 285 SLI -> T3'' ...no rad?

looking good.
one question. the mdpc-x tool for removing cables. How well does it work? I just am unsure about spending the money on it, when it might be rubbish.

Looking great. I can't wait to see more with the case. I was originally planning on that case :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by shazza

Looking forward to seeing what you do with the Obsidian case.

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This will be a dual loop (technically single) coz i will be using the T3, i'm noob to watercooling so please tell me if i'm doing something wrong

Quote:

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Originally Posted by nigelke

sweet :D
going to follow this

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Thanks following nigelke .. updates soon

Quote:

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Originally Posted by millertime359

Yea, the T3 is a bit of a pain to install on those tool less drive bays. Are you getting a faceplate for it? The black one would look really sweet with that case. :yepp:
The more i see it, the more I like this case. Show some photos of the backside. I am curios how good the cable management really is.

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Yes I spent almost 2-3hrs to get this thing mounted :mad: but it looks awesome!! at the end :up: .. Yes i'm definitely going to get the face plate but right now running kinda low on vitamin M :p: so may be next month.. I have a question about the face plate though, when i mount it we have to make sure it is flush with the front panel right ? if yes i'll have to redo all over the hole drill alignment thing :(.. i'll include backside pics, cable management is easy in this case and we have enough room to hide the cables but i'm not a pro so the backside of my build doesn't look that good..

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Welshman666

looking good man!

but why not have mounted the radiator the other way i,e the inlet/outlet at the front (near to reservoir)..would have looked neater imo

also, you stated for loop2 ''T3->Gtx 285 SLI -> T3'' ...no rad?

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welshman thanks for all your kind comments, i thought about mounting the rad the other way but i liked it the way i mounted imo..
yes i'm using only one rad in this setup because it is single loop technically ( because its the same coolant that flows between all the components)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by slamz

looking good.
one question. the mdpc-x tool for removing cables. How well does it work? I just am unsure about spending the money on it, when it might be rubbish.

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slamz - I purchased ATX pin removal tool from PPCs http://www.performance-pcs.com/catal...roducts_id=894
This tool works like a dream dude, as i said before this is the first time i sleeved my cables and i never thought that removing ATX cable pins is soo easy :p: but you need to be very careful otherwise you will break the tips of this tool, YOU DONT HAVE TO APPLY too much pressure if you do you will break the pins of this tool.. and yes stay away from the sunbeam tool kit it is piece of @#$% :D just get this tool, molex(male+female) extractor (if you are planning on sleeving molex cables) and a precision screw driver..
Good luck :up:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Armitage

Looking great. I can't wait to see more with the case. I was originally planning on that case :)

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Armitage - Thanks for your comments, I'm going to post updates soon.. Hope you like my build and convince yourself to buy the obsidian :cool:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by badboyze

Yes I spent almost 2-3hrs to get this thing mounted :mad: but it looks awesome!! at the end :up: .. Yes i'm definitely going to get the face plate but right now running kinda low on vitamin M :p: so may be next month.. I have a question about the face plate though, when i mount it we have to make sure it is flush with the front panel right ? if yes i'll have to redo all over the hole drill alignment thing :(.. i'll include backside pics, cable management is easy in this case and we have enough room to hide the cables but i'm not a pro so the backside of my build doesn't look that good..

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Yea, I had to get rid of those toolless locks on my Cosmos and drill the hole back slightly to fix. BoxGods didn't have any of these types of cases to play with when designing the T3. He does now though and will take it into account when he plans to take them into account on new designs.

The faceplate does stick out slightly, so you will have to push it in a little further. Its worth it though. If you like the way the T3 looks now, get that faceplate on it. It really does set off the T3. :yepp:

I am really impressed with this case. I just got my Cosmos 1000 like 6 months ago. I'm in the same boat as you with money also, so will have to wait awhile, but it looks like an outstanding case. I was just wanting to see how well they setup the cable management. If there was plenty of space or not.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by slamz

looking good.
one question. the mdpc-x tool for removing cables. How well does it work? I just am unsure about spending the money on it, when it might be rubbish.

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I got it and it is a great tool. You have to remember, Nils wouldn't sell trash. At least I hope not. :p:

Been working on the build all over the weekend and busy but the good news is my build is almost done, just few things left..so here are the pics :)

The mess that is covered all over my room :rofl:
i was so lazy in keeping this clean :p:

http://i750.photobucket.com/albums/x...f/P1010929.jpg

http://i750.photobucket.com/albums/x...f/P1010928.jpg

Ruined one of the tool less clip to mount T3, have to figure out if i can put the plastic clip over back again

http://i750.photobucket.com/albums/x...f/P1010934.jpg

now for some hardcore stuff :p:

My loop is going to be blue(thats from the name azul)

http://i750.photobucket.com/albums/x...f/P1010943.jpg

http://i750.photobucket.com/albums/x...f/P1010946.jpg

with the side cover on - Money shots :yepp:

http://i750.photobucket.com/albums/x...f/P1010953.jpg

http://i750.photobucket.com/albums/x...f/P1010926.jpg

Now look at back of the case..my cable management is not that good, but this case is really easy to deal with the CM..thanks to corsair

http://i750.photobucket.com/albums/x...f/P1010939.jpg

http://i750.photobucket.com/albums/x...f/P1010940.jpg

and yes the side panel does close .. i know i cant remove cpu backplate now :shrug: but hey i just bought HK 3.0 not for replacing :rofl:

beside the PSU

http://i750.photobucket.com/albums/x...f/P1010942.jpg

wanna see how huge this case is ?

http://i750.photobucket.com/albums/x...f/P1010949.jpg

http://i750.photobucket.com/albums/x...f/P1010951.jpg

http://i750.photobucket.com/albums/x...f/P1010950.jpg

thats it guys, i just love this case, only down side is weight it is very very heavy..

Now questions ..

1. How much blue dye do i have to mix, water in the tubes isn't getting the blue color but my res looks blue..

2. I have mounted the panaflo's so that they push air in from out side.. problem is whenever i increase the speed more that 2200rpm the bottom intake fan stops literally .. i don't know how to fix this :confused: is it because of negative pressure ?

3. CPU idle temps are around 39C and GPU idle temps are around 37C are these temps okay ? i have yet to run some performance tests and then i can determine the load temps

Thats it guys..hope you guys liked it

Quote:

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Originally Posted by millertime359

Yea, I had to get rid of those toolless locks on my Cosmos and drill the hole back slightly to fix. BoxGods didn't have any of these types of cases to play with when designing the T3. He does now though and will take it into account when he plans to take them into account on new designs.

The faceplate does stick out slightly, so you will have to push it in a little further. Its worth it though. If you like the way the T3 looks now, get that faceplate on it. It really does set off the T3. :yepp:

I am really impressed with this case. I just got my Cosmos 1000 like 6 months ago. I'm in the same boat as you with money also, so will have to wait awhile, but it looks like an outstanding case. I was just wanting to see how well they setup the cable management. If there was plenty of space or not.



I got it and it is a great tool. You have to remember, Nils wouldn't sell trash. At least I hope not. :p:

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Thanks millertime, i'll get the faceplate sometime next month .. excited to see how my T3 will look all pimped up :D

Great job on your first water cooling build, badboyze :up:

Not sure on the blue dye why you aren't getting the color in the tubing - guess you'll have to add a bit more dye. I assume it's not the kind that needs UV to appear darker ?


For those interested in the Obsidian case, there's another build in progress here.

Nice, they give you a ton of room back there here. That does suck about the toolless drive. You might be able to cut that metal tab off and then use some double stick tape to put the piece of plastic back.

I would honestly drop the coolant next drain and get some blue primochill tubing. Then install the blue LEDs on the T3. Check this:

http://www.abload.de/img/dscf16490i6v.jpg

I tested it with one LED and it is sweet looking. I have to break mine back down to install this vario pump. Once I do, the LEDs are going in. :yepp:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by badboyze

3. CPU idle temps are around 39C and GPU idle temps are around 37C are these temps okay ? i have yet to run some performance tests and then i can determine the load temps

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Got an update on those load temps? ;)