MM U2-UFO and Horizon: The never ending 2 in 1 worklog (56k warning)

Printable View

Show 100 post(s) from this thread on one page

07-05-2007, 09:58 PM
ranker

5 Attachment(s)

MM U2-UFO and Horizon: The never ending 2 in 1 worklog (56k warning) - FINISHED!!

I had always assumed that I'd get around to posting pictures of my various builds once I was completely satisfied and finished with them. It recently dawned upon myself that I never really get satisfied with any of my builds and constantly tinker with them. So, I've decided to post pictures and start a worklog/journal of my rebuilds over the past 4 months as I'm always looking for a way to make it "better". Now "better" can be defined in many ways and often changes depending on my mood.

What started off as a U2-UFO build ended up splitting up into two simultaneous builds, a U2-UFO and a Horizon. I blame McCoffey for having sparked my impulsive buying habits into purchasing a Horizon midway through the recent U2-UFO build. :D

Gaming/Benching Machine -
Started on June 1, 2007
Status: Completed as of September 9th after revision #9

Case: Mountain Mods Horizon w/ Big Window Top w/ black powder coat
Motherboard: eVGA 680i
Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo E6700
RAM: 2GB of Corsair Dominator PC-8500 (1066 5-5-5-15 @ 2.0V)
Video Card(s): 2 x eVGA 8800 GTX
Hard Drives: 2 x Western Digital 150GB Raptors in Raid 0, 2 x Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD5000AAKS 500GB in Raid 1
Sound Card: Auzentech X-Fi Prelude
Bay Devices: Asus 20X DVD-Writer || Lite-On 20x DVD-Writer
PSU: PCP&C Silencer SLI 750W & Meanwell S-150-15
Peripherials: Dell 2407FPW 24" LCD || Logitech Z-5500 Digital 5.1 || Logitech G7 Mouse || Logitech G15 LCD Keyboard || Logitech Quickcam Ultravision

Monitoring & Control Suite: mCubed BigNG || 2 x mCubed MiniNG's || mCubed Sensorbus || mCubed Digital Thermometer Expansion || 3 Aqua Computer Plug n Cool water temp probes|| 5 mCubed Fan Attenuators

CPU Loop:
Pump: DDC-2 w/ Alphacool's top
Radiator: Thermochill PA120.2
Fans: 2 x Yate Loon D12SL-12 on pull
CPU Waterblock: D-Tek Fuzion
Reservoir: EK-RES250 Multioption (Rev 2) w/ extra Multioption top
Tubing: Tygon B-44-3 3/8" ID, 5/8" OD
Solution: distilled water, 2 drops PT Nuke

GPU Loop:
Pump: DDC-2 w/ Alphacool's top
Radiator: Thermochill PA120.3
Fans: 3 x Yate Loon D12SL-12 on push
GPU Block: 2 x EK 8800GTX Full Cover
Reservoir: EK-RES200 Multioption (Rev 2) w/ extra Multioption top
Tubing: Tygon B-44-3 3/8" ID, 5/8" OD
Solution: distilled water, 2 drops PT Nuke, UV green dye

Chipset Loop:
Pump: DDC-2 w/ Alphacool's top
Radiator: Thermochill PA120.1
Fan: 1 x Yate Loon D12SL-12 on push
Northbridge Block: EK eVGA 680i NB
Southbridge Block: EK NF4 1.1 SB
Hard Drive Blocks: 2 x Alphacool HDD3 CU/Plexi 3.5" & Alphacool Silentstar Dual HD waterblock enclosure
Reservoir: EK-RES200 Multioption (Rev 2) w/ extra Multioption top
Tubing: Tygon B-44-3 3/8" ID, 5/8" OD
Solution: distilled water, 2 drops PT Nuke, UV blue dye

Update: 9/11/07 w/ completed pics
The Horizon has finally been finished. Aside from possibly a few cabling tweaks and some rewiring of my T-Balancer BigNG, the Horizon won't see too much of a change.

During this build, I've learned some valuable lessons, I'd like to share with others who are considering doing some of the things I've done. The most important thing is that I never ever want to do a multiple loop build again...ever. The pain staking process of having to find room and innovative ways to mount/place components resulted in numerous rebuilds when things didn't fit as how I had planned it out. I probably spent over 2 weeks just drawing the loops out with exact measurements. However, once you get around to actually placing the components physically, they never quite fit as planned. At most, I'll do two loop builds in the future, but I'm most likely going to stick with single loop builds. The headaches are just not worth it. As much as I trust the 10 DDC's that I personally own and use in my multiple rigs, the thought of one failing, which would require me to disassemble the entire build, would probably drive me past the point of insanity. As great as the Horizon looks, rerouting tubing, especially with the pumps on the bottom, requires a total rebuild. In the future, I'll probably stick with a single loop with possibly multiple radiators powered by a single RD-30. I hate to say it, but I think this very project burnt me out from the watercooling scene... at least for a while.

Other things I've learned:
1) Hiding cables is a pain in the ass and requires multiple cuts in the motherboard tray that you didn't plan for with your first wave of cuts.

2) UV dye from Jab-tech and Alphacool are utter crap.

3) I never want to use automated hardware to control my fans/pumps again. Not only is the wiring a total messy, pain in the ass, but the hassles of setting it all up just isn't worth it. The first few days are great when you see all the information at your disposal but seriously, how often are you going to look at that stuff. I feel the same way about bay drive LCD's. Anyhow, in the future, I'll most likely be going back to my Sunbeam rheostats to control my fans and leave my pumps at full speed with RPM monitoring through the motherboard/bios/speedfan.

4) EK reservoirs only work right in one configuration. Even with the rev 2, the whirl pool effect still exists and causes bleeding nightmares. Do not ever route your tubing into your reservoir into the top like I did. It will never fully bleed out all of the air. The EK reservoirs are best setup with the intake and outlet on the same plane.

5) Cut out holes in your motherboard tray for all of your mounting posts for your chipset/CPU waterblocks. It will make life much more tolerable in the event you ever need to adjust the mounting hardware. You'll save yourself a few rebuilds when you realize that one waterblock wasn't mounted correctly. Case in point: EK NF4 1.1 Great block, but world's :banana::banana::banana::banana:tiest mounting mechanism.

6) Ambient temps in the Horizon really suck ass due to the motherboard tray keeping all of the components near the top where all the warm air congregates. I wouldn't recommend getting any other top other than the original top that has mounts for 2 120mm fans. You really need to keep the air moving in this case. My U2 posts ambient temps that are on average 5-7C better than my Horizon and it has 2 less 120mm fans. Now a few C's may be due to the 8800GTX's and other components in the Horizon, but for the most part, I believe the aesthetics of the Horizon come at a cost.

7) When you're planning an over the top build, expect to run about $300-400 over budget and about 2 months over your planned timetable. Simple builds = less chance of running over budget and quicker up time. I probably have over $600 worth of components and accessories that were meant for this build that remain unused only because I wanted it to be a badass rig. Of course, new things always get released and somethings don't fit right and basically at the end of the day, you have an RD-30, PSU, a few waterblocks, a bunch of heat sinks, a PA160, etc sitting in a box.

Original Top - a must have for all Horizon owners imho
http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/e...Horizon001.jpg

Horizon motherboard tray with cut outs for wire management
http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/e...Horizon002.jpg

Motherboard with analogue and digital thermal sensors attached
http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/e...Horizon003.jpg
http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/e...Horizon004.jpg

3 x DDC-2's with Alphacool's top all attached to Mountain Mods HD brackets for mounting on Thermochill PA radiators
http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/e...Horizon005.jpg

Custom cut/made acrylic reservoir holder for 3 x EK Reservoirs
http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/e...Horizon006.jpg
http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/e...Horizon007.jpg

3 x EK reservoirs with w/ Rev 2 bottom and original multioption tops
http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/e...Horizon008.jpg
http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/e...Horizon009.jpg

3 x DDC-2's w/ Alphacool's top attached to PA radiators
http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/e...Horizon010.jpg
http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/e...Horizon011.jpg

Horizon front with new Black Delrin Vandal Bulgin switches (blue on left, white on the right) and bottom 5.25" bay replaced with custom acrylic cutout to support a PA120.1 and 120mm fan
http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/e...Horizon012.jpg

Top and side views of the Horizon with all of the components on the bottom compartment installed
http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/e...Horizon013.jpg
http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/e...Horizon014.jpg

All waterblocks installed onto their respective components
http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/e...Horizon015.jpg
http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/e...Horizon016.jpg

Front
http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/e...orizon2001.jpg

Left side
http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/e...orizon2002.jpg

Front and top sides http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/e...orizon2004.jpg

Top side
http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/e...orizon2005.jpg

Right side
http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/e...orizon2006.jpg

Internal view w/ completed wire management
http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/e...orizon2007.jpg
http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/e...orizon2008.jpg
http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/e...orizon2009.jpg
http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/e...orizon2010.jpg

BigNG in the bottom right hand corner
http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/e...orizon2011.jpg

2 x MiniNG's and Sensorbus attached to underside of horizontal motherboard brace with velcro
http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/e...orizon2013.jpg

Pictures taken in the dark:

http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/e...orizon3001.jpg

http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/e...orizon3002.jpg

http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/e...orizon3003.jpg

http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/e...orizon3004.jpg

http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/e...orizon3005.jpg

http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/e...orizon3006.jpg

http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/e...orizon3007.jpg

Home Office Work Machine -
Started On: March 14, 2007
Status: Completed on June 15, 2007 after 3 revisions

Case: U2-UFO w/ Original Top w/ black powder coat
Motherboard: eVGA 680i
Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo E6600
RAM: 2GB of Corsair Dominators (PC-8500 5-5-5-15) w/ Dominator Fan
Video Card(s): 2 x eVGA 7900GT SLI
Hard Drive: Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3500630AS 500GB
Bay Devices: Samsung SH-S183L 18x DVD Burner || Lite-On 18x DVD Burner || 2 x Sunbeam Rheobus (white/red LED mod) || 5 1/4" Bay 20-1 Card Reader
PSU: PCP&C Silencer SLI 750W
Peripherials: Microsoft Wireless Entertainment Keyboard 7000 || Dell 2405 24" LCD || Acer 22" LCD || Planar 19" LCD || Logitech X-530 5.1 speaker system || Creative Webcam

CPU/Chipset Loop:
Pump: DDC-1 w/ Petra's revised top on Petra Gel
Radiator: Swiftech MCR220QP
Fans: 2 x Silverstone FN122 120mm on pull
CPU Waterblock: Swiftech Apogee GTX
Northbridge Waterblock: Danger Den 680i
Southbridge Waterblock: EK NF4 1.1
Reservoir: Swiftech mcres-micro (w/ G1/4 tap on top)
Tubing: Tygon R3603 1/2" ID, 3/4" OD
Solution: distilled water, 2 drops PT Nuke, UV red Alphacool dye

GPU Loop:
Pump: DDC-1 w/ Petra's revised top on Petra Gel
Radiator: Thermochill PA120.3
Fans: 3 x Silverstone FN122 120mm (w/ shroud) on pull
GPU Waterblock: 2 x Swiftech MCW60
GPU Memory Waterblock: 2 x Swiftech MCW-Ramcool /79
Reservoir: Swiftech mcres-micro (w/ G1/4 tap on top)
Tubing: Tygon R3603 1/2" ID, 3/4" OD
Solution: distilled water, 2 drops PT Nuke, UV red Alphacool dye

Anyhow, my home office machine is built for silence. I normally don't overclock it at all and let it run stock. I tried to make look as decent as possible without spending too much time on it as my main focus has shifted towards my 3rd MountainMods build my Horizon.

The following pics document the entire journey starting with a U2-UFO which undergoes constant revisions. Eventually the project branches off into two separate builds altogether. The U2-UFO was originally meant to be my gaming/benching machine. It was to have 3 loops with a PA120.3, PA120.2, and a PA160 housed within. You'll notice that I managed to find room to squeeze everything in. However, after a few weeks of use, I decided to tear it down and begin the MM Horizon build and migrated the majority of my "high performance" components to the Horizon. I bought another PA120.3 and picked up an old MCR220 from the watercooling graveyard and moved those into the U2-UFO. During the journey, I had the pleasure of swapping in and out dozens of parts as you'll see from the pictures.

And here come the pics!
07-05-2007, 10:00 PM
ranker

5 Attachment(s)

More Pics:
07-05-2007, 10:02 PM
ranker

5 Attachment(s)

and More Pics of First Version of the U2-UFO
07-05-2007, 10:04 PM
ranker

5 Attachment(s)

And here was the completion of the first revision of the U2-UFO and lasted about a week before I tored it down for a rebuild.
07-05-2007, 10:06 PM
ranker

5 Attachment(s)

Now the pics for the end result for the Home Office Machine in its final state. Unfortunately, my Canon was taken by my significant other for her vacation. I had to settle with my dinky camera phone but I'll get better quality pics up soon enough.
07-05-2007, 10:08 PM
ranker

5 Attachment(s)

Here's the last of it of the U2-UFO shots. I'll start posting the up to date worklog for my Horizon tomorrow:
07-05-2007, 10:19 PM
ColonelCain

Ohhh... how I love build logs.... (it kinda satisfies my need for buying parts.... a little..) :D
07-05-2007, 10:21 PM
ShoNuff

Gotta luv that case!

Nice build! What is that black "pad" you are using underneath the PSU? That looks like a great idea. :up:
07-05-2007, 10:21 PM
Patriote

Man, let me tell you this...You are Xtreme! Thats insane! You basically bought a damn Horizon when you were building your rig in a U2-UFO ?! :rofl:

I feel really small in my shoes with my U2-UFO...lol

Quote:

Originally Posted by ranker

I had always assumed that I'd get around to posting pictures of my various builds once I was completely satisfied and finished with them. It recently dawned upon myself that I never really get satisfied with any of my builds and constantly tinker with them. So, I've decided to post pictures and start a worklog/journal of my rebuilds as I'm always looking for a way to make it "better". Now "better" can be defined in many ways and often changes depending on my mood.

OMG...This is so true! I just finished building a rig in a U2-UFO myself, and im about to re-do the loop ... I haven't even received my goods from Performance PCs (Ek 8800GTX block, some Tubing etc...) That im already planning on ordering some more stuff from Jab-tech! I am never satisfied with my builds and orders. There is always something i can improve or make more Xtreme. And since im Easily Influenced, i never stop of buying stuff from online retailers. My wallet would thanks me if i'd quit reading Xtreme system forums...lol

Anyway, this was well said! And the build looks awesome BTW! Awesome job ranker!

PS: I have the same garbage can as you...Let me guess...IKEA ? lol
07-05-2007, 10:24 PM
1badhabit

Wow, amazing work, everything is so... clean and tiddy, just how I like it!!
07-05-2007, 10:25 PM
erwinz

wow very nice build.. :)

you sure know your water cooling.. and very nice psu accomodating the power of the sata harddisk.. :D
07-05-2007, 10:40 PM
teyber

yeah, im 15 and am on my third computer this year lol... and sorta re-building again!

ive stopped buying new components, but have started to accesorize! like cooling, completely custom case(made by me!) phase change... man!

i like you you have two 24" dells!
07-05-2007, 10:42 PM
ranker

Quote:

Originally Posted by ShoNuff

Nice build! What is that black "pad" you are using underneath the PSU? That looks like a great idea. :up:

It's actually the pad that came with my Vantec PSU gasket. I just used the foam and slipped it underneath as I didn't feel comfortable with it suspending in the air with just 4 screws.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Patriote

Man, let me tell you this...You are Xtreme! Thats insane! You basically bought a damn Horizon when you were building your rig in a U2-UFO ?! :rofl:

I feel really small in my shoes with my U2-UFO...lol

Haha yeah. Normally I'm always working on 1 or 2 builds for friends/family/office but there was a period where I was only working on my U2. I got bored so I decided to split my time by purchasing a Horizon. I then split the projects and moving half the parts into the U2 and purchasing more components for the Horizon. The end result was a graveyard of wasted parts. I'll post pics later of the 2 D5's, 2 MCR 220's, 2 x MCW30's and 2 x D-Tek Fuzion GPU's that were originally part of the build but got cut in the "editting process".

Once I finish with this Horizion, I'm going to start a Bob Slay build.

Quote:

PS: I have the same garbage can as you...Let me guess...IKEA ? lol

Haha, you got it!

Quote:

OMG...This is so true! I just finished building a rig in a U2-UFO myself, and im about to re-do the loop ... I haven't even received my goods from Performance PCs (Ek 8800GTX block, some Tubing etc...) That im already planning on ordering some more stuff from Jab-tech! I am never satisfied with my builds and orders. There is always something i can improve or make more Xtreme. And since im Easily Influenced, i never stop of buying stuff from online retailers. My wallet would thanks me if i'd quit reading Xtreme system forums...lol

Anyway, this was well said! And the build looks awesome BTW! Awesome job ranker!

It's definitely an addiction. I started a long time ago back in 2002. I stopped keeping up with the hobby around 2005 since I was focusing on getting into law school at the time. I recently got back in again during November of 2006 and I've spent way too much just catching up for the year I missed by buying everything in sight. Ugh, if I learned anything from all of this, its that I'm too much of an impulsive buyer.

Quote:

Originally Posted by 1badhabit

Wow, amazing work, everything is so... clean and tiddy, just how I like it!!

Quote:

Originally Posted by erwinz

wow very nice build.. :)

you sure know your water cooling.. and very nice psu accomodating the power of the sata harddisk.. :D

Thanks guys! The sad part is that on the rebuild, I had to redo the entire PSU modding I had originally done. The 2nd and 3rd time around I didn't do as good as a job as I knew I'd most likely have to redo it at a later time.
07-05-2007, 10:45 PM
clone38

Nice build you got there m8 :)
07-05-2007, 10:50 PM
ranker

My current plan for my Horizon is:

1) Create an acrylic mounting piece for my RD-30 in order for it to be mounted vertically. This will simplify the tubing process by having the pump basically lying on its back. The outlet will point directly towards the PA120.2 in the back, and the inlet will face up towards the motherboard tray. There's some pictures of my Horizon in its naked state on this thread: http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...73&postcount=6 . At the top of the motherboard support bar is where I plan on "hanging" this acrylic piece w/ RD-30.

2) I'm going to remove the EK reservoir and see if this helps my temps: http://www.arcticmod.com/computer-mo...ch-systems.htm

I plan on using some Antec Cool Spot fans to blow on the reservoir. Basically my CPU loop is aimed towards achieving the lowest possble temps on water. If anyone has anything to add that might lower my temps some more, please do tell! I'm wondering if anyone ever saw better temps through the use of a passive copper reservoir with some fans on it?

3) Convert the other 2 loops toward 3/8"

4) Drill out an opening for the RD-30's relay kit so that I won't have to leave the 2ndary PSU plate completely open as I've had to do. I hate dust...and dog hair in my computer.
07-05-2007, 11:26 PM
Patriote

Sounds good ranker! :wiggle:

PS: Don't worry, im impulsive too! Your not alone! :gamer:

It's just now that im off work and school that im loading my credit card and spending a lot of stuff. Since i have all my time free! :)
07-06-2007, 04:50 AM
silverphoenix

Constantly tinkering and never being satisified is like a disease for me, side effects include : keeping wallet nice and light, quick spendature of small paycheck.
07-06-2007, 05:29 AM
IanY

ranker,

A tip about the relay. Buy the Lian Li PSU plate. It comes in silver and black, and is generally meant for its V- and G- series cases. The PSU plate is held by four little 6-32 screws, and that can easily be tapped into any MM PSU opening. I plan to try to drill that plate for a relay and PSU cord as well, as soon as I figure out how to cramp in a Meanwell into the Optimax. At the very worst, the PSU gets borked, and you start on a second one, for a very nominal price (I believe under $10). The case won't get harmed.

I notice you chose a S150-15 and nota S150-24 or S320-24. Can the 15 volt model be turned up to 18 volts?

I myself use a ceramic tile under the Optimax PSU. I see that you have an affinity for the Silencer 750W. I am getting a bit irritated by the weight and noise of the 1kW and may look to the Silencer models as well. I won't be able to double up on the PSU until I move on from my Optimax because its just way too cramped. A Meanwell would mean (no pun) that I would have to give up the lower drive location as well, which places even more constraints on space.
07-06-2007, 07:20 AM
DarthBeavis

ranker u know u owe me for that chick with the scythe grill cover . . .my design . . .the one of the chick standing with it hanging off her back is the design of one of the guys at PDXLAN (he designed it specifically for me). These where custom made for my by Mountain Mods . . .came out so well Ben decided to sell them. Ben flippen ruleZ.

BTW . . .love u build
07-06-2007, 08:40 AM
AndyM

Nice looking project! Thank you for not making me feel so bad about my never ending upgrading after reading of your progress :p: . I must say, I'm kinda jealous, you were able to get your grubby mitts on a bigNG, both PPC's and mcubed are OOS on that. I'm anxiously awaiting the opportunity to blow some more cash on one of those along with one of those big Alphacool bay displays for my TJ07...must spend more! :ROTF:
07-06-2007, 09:17 AM
sick_g4m3r

Excellent build!!! Thats amazing!
07-06-2007, 09:20 AM
RickCain

Ranker - +1 for the work!

Are you still running the Dtek GPU blocks?
07-06-2007, 09:41 AM
ANP !!!

Thats some Awesome work man :D
07-06-2007, 10:59 AM
ranker

Quote:

Originally Posted by mcoffey

great stuff as always Ranker,

one of the problems I found with multi loops on my Hrz. is the lack of air flow in and out of the case (to many fans blowing in, not enough pulling air out causing a positive air pressure in the case). even though fresh air is blowing in on both rads, the heat inside the case tends to heat the rad housing themselves up and that hurts temps some. couple that with not enough fans blowing fresh cool air in, and not enough pulling warn air out, and that causes a problem.

so I'd be cautious about putting a copper res in the case that's subject to ambient heat.

I noticed that too and had purchased the original top for that reason. However, I was too in love with the looks of the Big Window that I switched tops with my U2-UFO. If my temps move up due to my swapping of the EK res for the copper res, I'll probably have to either swap tops again or just remove the copper res altogether.

Quote:

Also, I noticed you mounted the hd's on the rads on the other build. the radiant heat from the hd's alone is enough to heat the rad housing up even though air is blowing from the rad to the hd's.

I used one of these for the hd mounting, and I love it. lost one of my 5 1/4 bays, but I only use 3 5 1/4 devices.
http://www.performance-pcs.com/catal...ducts_id=21082

built like a tank and matches up well with the case in front looks wise. very functional. getting the drives off the rad will help temps some.

Yeah, I noticed the CPU temps weren't all that great for some odd reason and figured it was due to the heat of the two raptors and 2 500gb drives heating it slightly. In my revised U2-UFO, I only have 1 hard drive and its mounted in the front bottom fan using the HD trays. I plan on getting more pics of the internals of my finished U2-UFO once the lady comes back from vacation and releases my Canon from captivity.

In my Horizon, all of my HD's are mounted with brackets off of my 120.3 in the front with both of my raptors being watercooled. I'm anxious to show you guys the pics of how I set it up.

Quote:

can't tell you how much I enjoy watching your builds come around, and I've gotten several idea's from them.

and yes, I except full responsibility for your increased spending habits on the Hrz. i'm just passing on freely what was given to me, a passion for the extreme and subsequent addiction:D

this hobby is a blast,

andyc

Haha, I think I've probably gotten just as much from watching your build if not more. :D

Quote:

Originally Posted by IanY

ranker,

A tip about the relay. Buy the Lian Li PSU plate. It comes in silver and black, and is generally meant for its V- and G- series cases. The PSU plate is held by four little 6-32 screws, and that can easily be tapped into any MM PSU opening. I plan to try to drill that plate for a relay and PSU cord as well, as soon as I figure out how to cramp in a Meanwell into the Optimax. At the very worst, the PSU gets borked, and you start on a second one, for a very nominal price (I believe under $10). The case won't get harmed.

Thanks for the tip. I'll probably do that if I happen to mess up carving out a hole in the MM acrylic plate.

Quote:

I notice you chose a S150-15 and nota S150-24 or S320-24. Can the 15 volt model be turned up to 18 volts?

Yeap, the 24 would only undervolt down to 20 volts or 19.5 according to my meter. I kept the 150-15 instead as it was able to turn up to 18 volts, the sweet spot according to the information provided on this and Overclocking forum.

Quote:

I myself use a ceramic tile under the Optimax PSU. I see that you have an affinity for the Silencer 750W. I am getting a bit irritated by the weight and noise of the 1kW and may look to the Silencer models as well. I won't be able to double up on the PSU until I move on from my Optimax because its just way too cramped. A Meanwell would mean (no pun) that I would have to give up the lower drive location as well, which places even more constraints on space.

Does the ceramic tile provide any benefit sound wise or heat wise? My 1k was just too noisy and too bulky that I swapped it out and use PCP&C Silencers for both builds. It's silent, comes with all the necessary connectors I need. I ended up moving the PCP&C 1k to the server I recently built so at least it got some usage.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DarthBeavis

ranker u know u owe me for that chick with the scythe grill cover . . .my design . . .the one of the chick standing with it hanging off her back is the design of one of the guys at PDXLAN (he designed it specifically for me). These where custom made for my by Mountain Mods . . .came out so well Ben decided to sell them. Ben flippen ruleZ.

BTW . . .love u build

The funny thing is that it was your build from that "buffy" box that got my interested perked on the covers for my Horizon (my U2-UFO now just has fan filters since its my work machine). I never knew it was your box until months later having seeing you mention it in the cases forum. Your build was the initial inspiration for me to make another attempt at the U2-UFO! So thank you sir for lightening my wallet. I had given up on the UFO after I had purchased one 2 years back (OG UFO complete with Thermochill HE120.3 and Swiftie 5k block) and didn't do much with it aesthetically. I didn't realize its potential until I saw your builds.

Quote:

Originally Posted by AndyM

Nice looking project! Thank you for not making me feel so bad about my never ending upgrading after reading of your progress :p: . I must say, I'm kinda jealous, you were able to get your grubby mitts on a bigNG, both PPC's and mcubed are OOS on that. I'm anxiously awaiting the opportunity to blow some more cash on one of those along with one of those big Alphacool bay displays for my TJ07...must spend more! :ROTF:

One of the best recommendations this forum gave me was the mcubed product line. It brings out the engineer in me in being able to monitor/tweak everything. I love its expandability and its small size as well.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mcoffey

come on now, that chick's on the back of every tractor trailers mud flap from Cali to DC:D. but nice job getting it set up for a custom rig. i always wondered hpw that came about.

andyc

I noticed that it finally hit the PC scene. Thanks Beavis for your contribution to the community! ;)

Quote:

Originally Posted by sick_g4m3r

Excellent build!!! Thats amazing!

Quote:

Originally Posted by RickCain

Ranker - +1 for the work!

Are you still running the Dtek GPU blocks?

Thanks sick, thanks rick.

I'm no longer using the D-Tek GPU blocks in any of my builds. All my machines now either use EK FC's or MCW60's. In my own testing, I found the D-Tek GPU blocks to be comparable to the MCW60's temp wise...within 1C with the MCW60 still getting the edge. However, I can't really recommend using it with the Storm like pressure drop for a single loop configuration. It's perfectly viable for a separate GPU loop or in the case for people with high restriction/low flow setups, but I never found a situation where it was practical for me. I now use EK FC's in 2/3 loop builds and MCW60's in single loop builds. However, the D-Tek Fuzion probably has the easiest setup when used in conjunction with the Uni-Sink, which is what I'm recommending to my associates when they're running two loops and want an easily installable block w/ sinks and want it to be reusable for future cards.

I talked with Danny and found out he's going to revise his GPU blocks. He mentioned that it's already finished but won't be released until the market sells out of the first version. It modifies the inlet and cuts a huge path directly down towards the outlet alleviating the large pressure drop.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ANP !!!

Thats some Awesome work man :D

Thanks ANP!
07-06-2007, 11:27 AM
IanY

ranker,

Thanks for the tip on the S150-15. I didn't know that the S320-24 cannot be turned down to 18 volts. I am concerned about heat dump, but I figured that I have adequate radiator capacity.

I used a stack of two thin ceramic tiles only because they were available after a home improvement kitchen project and also already conveniently cut to size to fit the base of the PCPC (a bit smaller). I didn't think about heat dissipation because that wasn't my intent, but I suppose ceramic does dissipate some heat. I also suppose that it also helps with noise vibration, but I wouldn't hold my breathe on that. My concern was the darn weight of the 1kW. Stupid question... the Silencer is stable and uneventful, right?

My current struggle is actual "floor space" in my case.. as in there's none. Moving the 1kW out and switching to a Silencer 750W would save a few precious cubic inches. I just see no viable way to mount more than one RD30, and in fact, I may have to do it sideways on the mobo tray and I am 100% unexcited about that.

It just hit me in the face that moving to stacked Dualities will not solve my problem because I will again lack floor space. At least the PSUs will be tucked away in the center column, but I will face the same old BS again. Another alternate long shot is to find some sort of external case for the pumps with some sort of sound absorption foam.. but then there will be unsightly tubes everywhere. I am in a big dilemma.
07-06-2007, 11:33 AM
ranker

Quote:

Originally Posted by IanY

I used a stack of two thin ceramic tiles only because they were available after a home improvement kitchen project and also already conveniently cut to size to fit the base of the PCPC (a bit smaller). I didn't think about heat dissipation because that wasn't my intent, but I suppose ceramic does dissipate some heat. I also suppose that it also helps with noise vibration, but I wouldn't hold my breathe on that. My concern was the darn weight of the 1kW. Stupid question... the Silencer is stable and uneventful, right?

Very solid and stable and reviewed well across a variety of sites. I haven't had any problems. You'll notice I don't trust modular power supplies at all.

Quote:

My current struggle is actual "floor space" in my case.. as in there's none. Moving the 1kW out and switching to a Silencer 750W would save a few precious cubic inches. I just see no viable way to mount more than one RD30, and in fact, I may have to do it sideways on the mobo tray and I am 100% unexcited about that.

It just hit me in the face that moving to stacked Dualities will not solve my problem because I will again lack floor space. At least the PSUs will be tucked away in the center column, but I will face the same old BS again. Another alternate long shot is to find some sort of external case for the pumps with some sort of sound absorption foam.. but then there will be unsightly tubes everywhere. I am in a big dilemma.

This was the reason I moved towards the Horizon instead. The Horizon offers more floor space as seen by the other Horizon build with two RD-30's in it. The U2-UFO has a ton of vertical space, but lacks the floor space that I need for my huge plethora of pumps and reservoirs.
07-06-2007, 11:45 AM
IanY

ranker,

You'll never find a modular PSU in my home. My one and only one was an Antec consumer 500W unit bought at Staples under a desparate situation (lightning strike and a wife without a PSU). It lasted all of two days before a blackout took it out (and I had an APC UPS going.. scary). I returned that POS and got my $80 back.

Regarding the Horizon, my objection is its lack of radiator mountings. I have grown fond of the Duality precisely for that reason, and I had asked for a different front panel on my Optimax for that reason as well. I guess I can't have my cake and eat it too. I'm used to mounting DDC2s sideways, and even D5s as well, but the RD30s (seen one in real life at a distributor) is a different animal and I fear for the well being of the flimsy aluminum mobo tray. I would be a lot more confident if it were made of steel.

Have you switched to MX1 paste or do you use AS5 or Ceramique ? Do you know much about the Shin Etsu paste ?
07-06-2007, 02:55 PM
DarthBeavis

Quote:

Originally Posted by mcoffey

come on now, that chick's on the back of every tractor trailers mud flap from Cali to DC:D. but nice job getting it set up for a custom rig. i always wondered hpw that came about.

andyc

Show me the mudflap with these one them:
http://img527.imageshack.us/img527/1...kxq6cc7.th.jpg
http://img527.imageshack.us/img527/7...ayahjk8.th.gif

The second one I made from:
http://img411.imageshack.us/img411/7420/641bjz7.th.jpg
07-06-2007, 04:33 PM
ranker

Quote:

Originally Posted by IanY

ranker,

You'll never find a modular PSU in my home. My one and only one was an Antec consumer 500W unit bought at Staples under a desparate situation (lightning strike and a wife without a PSU). It lasted all of two days before a blackout took it out (and I had an APC UPS going.. scary). I returned that POS and got my $80 back.

Regarding the Horizon, my objection is its lack of radiator mountings. I have grown fond of the Duality precisely for that reason, and I had asked for a different front panel on my Optimax for that reason as well. I guess I can't have my cake and eat it too. I'm used to mounting DDC2s sideways, and even D5s as well, but the RD30s (seen one in real life at a distributor) is a different animal and I fear for the well being of the flimsy aluminum mobo tray. I would be a lot more confident if it were made of steel.

Have you switched to MX1 paste or do you use AS5 or Ceramique ? Do you know much about the Shin Etsu paste ?

I just recently switched over to MX-1 on my Horizon. I'm using Ceramique on my U2-UFO. I haven't had a chance to compare differences in temps yet but I doubt they'll viable results since I'm changing multiple things in my loop atm. I just hope I didn't get a rise in temps on my CPU's loop.
07-06-2007, 04:38 PM
Jedda

Thinking about it, those ceramic tiles probably function as a heat shield, ala' Space Shuttle. They'd reflect heat but be very slow to absorb and radiate it.

Great thread, ranker.
Like you, my efforts don't fit a beginning to end, my mod thread. So it's a bit inspirational to see one laid out as where you're at with pics. I might start my own pilgrim's progress thread for my V2.
Finally have the second V1000+ and all day free to strip out it's internals.
Can't do a components pic, as there's no place free to lay them all out in the house and I'd be able to add up the outlay. Don't want to do that!
07-06-2007, 04:41 PM
ranker

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jedda

Thinking about it, those ceramic tiles probably function as a heat shield, ala' Space Shuttle. They'd reflect heat but be very slow to absorb and radiate it.

Great thread, ranker.
Like you, my efforts don't fit a beginning to end, my mod thread. So it's a bit inspirational to see one laid out as where you're at with pics. I might start my own pilgrim's progress thread for my V2.
Finally have the second V1000+ and all day free to strip out it's internals.
Can't do a components pic, as there's no place free to lay them all out in the house and I'd be able to add up the outlay. Don't want to do that!

Thanks, I only wish I had my camera to document the work I'm doing on my Horizon as we speak and get some quality pics of my finished U2.

I'll be looking forward to seeing whatever project you're working on as well. We might as well share all of our best ideas :up:
07-06-2007, 05:13 PM
Jedda

Quote:

Originally Posted by ranker

I'll be looking forward to seeing whatever project you're working on as well. We might as well share all of our best ideas :up:

Mine is driven by the same parameters as your's.
*Start build
*Buy too much to fit in case
*Start again with bigger case
*Buy more bits
*Start again, moding two cases to make one big enough to fit all the bells and whistles.
I'm sure underpants fits in there somewhere?

I call it the V2. It's two Lian-Li V1000+ bolted together.
Mobo and drives in the first half, with rads n stuff in the second. M-cube sensors up the yin yang should give me hours of happy tinkering once it's together as there's plenty of options for rad/loops/airflow tuning.
07-06-2007, 07:31 PM
ranker

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jedda

Mine is driven by the same parameters as your's.
*Start build
*Buy too much to fit in case
*Start again with bigger case
*Buy more bits
*Start again, moding two cases to make one big enough to fit all the bells and whistles.
I'm sure underpants fits in there somewhere?

You just basically described my entire work log. LOL.

Quote:

I call it the V2. It's two Lian-Li V1000+ bolted together.
Mobo and drives in the first half, with rads n stuff in the second. M-cube sensors up the yin yang should give me hours of happy tinkering once it's together as there's plenty of options for rad/loops/airflow tuning.

This I gotta see. By the way, the only thing that prevents a clean look for my case will be the humongous amount of wires I'll be utilizing to monitor everything with my mCubed suite. The only thing that irks me is that if I utilize my digital thermometers, I can only monitor the temperature of the copper block itself instead of being able to place it directly on whatever die I'd like to monitor with the analogue sensors.

I'm wondering if the temps off the copper block are even worthwhile to monitor. Anyone know if they're close enough to the real temps off the die?
07-06-2007, 07:31 PM
IanY

ranker,

How do you like those Sharkoon 2000s ? I think I am going to try one of them to see how I like them.
07-06-2007, 08:00 PM
ranker

Quote:

Originally Posted by IanY

ranker,

How do you like those Sharkoon 2000s ? I think I am going to try one of them to see how I like them.

I like em better than my Thunderblades, Scythe Sflex F's, and a few other fans I have lying around. For pure silence, nothing beats the Silverstone's or Yates, although I find the Yates to be better on radiators than the silverstones. For radiator fans, the Golfball 2000's have been the best from my totally unobjective testing. Basically they kept temps low with the least amount of noise to my ears.
07-06-2007, 10:07 PM
Jedda

Yeah, black sleeving helps reduce the m-cube spaghetti visually, at least. Like you I'm going to try both analogue and digital sensors to discover what works. I'm hoping the digital ones can help sort hot spots and airflow over the 680 board's mofets and such.
Wouldn't it be nice if the motherboard manufacturers properly calibrated the cpu sensors?
The whole build really revolves around how hot that mobo runs.
07-06-2007, 11:07 PM
ranker

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jedda

Yeah, black sleeving helps reduce the m-cube spaghetti visually, at least. Like you I'm going to try both analogue and digital sensors to discover what works. I'm hoping the digital ones can help sort hot spots and airflow over the 680 board's mofets and such.
Wouldn't it be nice if the motherboard manufacturers properly calibrated the cpu sensors?
The whole build really revolves around how hot that mobo runs.

You nailed it. I went to extra lengths just because of how hot this board runs. If the 680i's weren't such great overclockers, I've have switched by now. I just recently picked up a P35 mobo for my Q6600 and right now I'm not just happy with the prelim results (and the fact that it supports crossfire instead of SLI).

Anyhow, more pics coming of my rebuild. I'll just have to use my camera phone as I'd like to document everything rather than wait for the lady to come back with the camera.
07-07-2007, 04:51 AM
Grinch

very nice looking ranker....*-)
07-07-2007, 02:29 PM
ranker

A quick update for those asking about how I setup my drain line:

The best design for a drain line is as follows:

Use a T line near the lowest part of your loop. Right off the T-line, add a small-sized quick disconnect (http://www.sharkacomputers.com/alqudicog1th.html). However, leave the other half of it off. Now connect the other half of the quick disconnect first to an alphacool ball valve (http://www.performance-pcs.com/catal...ucts_id=20601), and then to a DD fill port.

Basically it WON'T clutter your case and you can always drain it by simply connecting the other half of the quick disconnect, opening the fill port, and then turning the ball valve. Viola, instant drain line without taking up the space of a drain line.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Grinch

very nice looking ranker....*-)

Thanks Grinch,

I'm curious about your Vcore setting for your e6600. To get to 3.6Hz stable on one of my chips, I've had to push it to 1.5 Bios (1.47 vdroop).
07-07-2007, 03:02 PM
Colossous

Ye Ranker, that looks good dude !! I've got an Opti 1203 to start when i finish my present build and your work is making me want to get to grips with that case duder !! :up:
07-08-2007, 10:33 PM
Jedda

Quote:

Originally Posted by ranker

Anyhow, more pics coming of my rebuild. I'll just have to use my camera phone as I'd like to document everything rather than wait for the lady to come back with the camera.

We'll wait patiently for your sabbatical to end and thus you be able to show us more pix.
I'd like to see how you laid out m-cube, pumps, sensors etc, if it's able to be shown in your pics. Probably use velcro and tape to mount BigNG, hub etc, myself.
Cheers mate.
07-09-2007, 12:03 AM
kevinbo03

Quote:

Originally Posted by Patriote

PS: I have the same garbage can as you...Let me guess...IKEA ? lol

LMFAO :rofl:

Me too :up:
07-09-2007, 04:47 AM
cablesguy

Ranker,

All that comes to mind is AWESOME!!, looking forward to ur Horizon worklogs :up:
07-09-2007, 06:01 AM
septim

the goods finally... very nice... although we would require some more pics...

request, pic of tbalancer setup...

*i h_te BSOD, well time to format a harddisk soon*
07-12-2007, 08:27 AM
Istasi

Do you have any better pics of how the EK Res is mounted in the U2 UFO? I'm looking to go dual loop whenever I upgrade my hardware, and need ideas for where to mount the res for the PA120.3 loop.
07-15-2007, 10:31 AM
justin_c

Why 3/8" 5/8" instead of 7/16 5/8? What barbs did you use (for the cpu and chipset, and specifically the gpus).
07-15-2007, 10:45 AM
ranker

Hey guys, I'm back!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Colossous

Ye Ranker, that looks good dude !! I've got an Opti 1203 to start when i finish my present build and your work is making me want to get to grips with that case duder !! :up:

The hardest part about working on a UFO is coming up with a build to be satisfied with. For my next builds, I'm going to plan it out on paper and just stick with it until the end. It gets painful and drawn out whenever you decide to revise it on the fly. Lesson learned after 3 UFO builds now!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jedda

We'll wait patiently for your sabbatical to end and thus you be able to show us more pix.
I'd like to see how you laid out m-cube, pumps, sensors etc, if it's able to be shown in your pics. Probably use velcro and tape to mount BigNG, hub etc, myself.
Cheers mate.

The lady just came back (perfect timing considering my own "vacation" ;) ). I'll get pics up of where everything's located.

Quote:

Originally Posted by cablesguy

Ranker,

All that comes to mind is AWESOME!!, looking forward to ur Horizon worklogs :up:

Thanks, I'll be posting more pictures today shortly. Just need to get caught up.

Quote:

Originally Posted by septim

the goods finally... very nice... although we would require some more pics...

request, pic of tbalancer setup...

*i h_te BSOD, well time to format a harddisk soon*

You got it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Istasi

Do you have any better pics of how the EK Res is mounted in the U2 UFO? I'm looking to go dual loop whenever I upgrade my hardware, and need ideas for where to mount the res for the PA120.3 loop.

I"ll get these pics up as well. The easiest way to mount them in a U2-UFO is to just screw the holder into one of 5 1/4" bay slots so that it faces the outside of the bay. Or another trick if you prefer not to drill is to screw it into a 3.5" bay.

Quote:

Originally Posted by justin_c

Why 3/8" 5/8" instead of 7/16 5/8? What barbs did you use (for the cpu and chipset, and specifically the gpus).

I use the 3/8"-5/8" because the hit on temps for insignificant components don't matter too much to me. My GPU/HDD/Vreg/Chipsets aren't going to affect my overclock much if they take a 1C rise in temps. However, everything on my CPU loop is dedicated towards eeking out the last .01C possible. I kept that loop on 1/2" ID.
07-15-2007, 11:12 AM
Grinch

:party: glad to see you back ranker...:up:
07-15-2007, 12:08 PM
justin_c

EK barbs are ok for sli? and for everything else? because i might just use black plastic barbs for inbetween the SLI cards, can you tell me how much space there is inbetween?
07-15-2007, 01:03 PM
Patriote

Oh oh! Welcome Back Ranker! :wave:

Love the build m8! :yepp:
07-15-2007, 01:11 PM
justin_c

some pics of the horizon please! and of the bigNG/miniNG; where did you get the flowmeter, the flowmeter isnt available at PPC.

miniNG, bigNG, sensorbus is what im planning for two loops, cpu, nb/sb/, gpu.
07-15-2007, 01:31 PM
ranker

Quote:

Originally Posted by justin_c

EK barbs are ok for sli? and for everything else? because i might just use black plastic barbs for inbetween the SLI cards, can you tell me how much space there is inbetween?

Depending on your motherboard, EK's regular barbs should be ok as long as you're not using two PCI express slots that are adjacent to one another. My EVGA680i's two main PCI-Express slots have 3 slots between them so I'm able to use the regular fittings. If you're using a motherboard which has a layout that is much tighter, you'll have to use the short "stubby" fittings offered by either EK or DD.
07-21-2007, 02:17 PM
ranker

So, with the recent numbers measured by Swiftech in regards to the 8800GTX's head dump, I've been considering the removal of my 3rd loop and placing all of the components in the chipset/hd/ram loop into the GPU loop.

It will allow me to remove the overly large/bulky PA120.1 I had placed on the motherboard fan exhaust as it partially covers the 1/3 of the Fuzion.

Now, I'm wondering how much of a heat dump the EVGA 680i NB/SB, 2 Raptors, and 2 WD 500GB sata drives put out. I'm hoping my PA120.3 can handle all of this in addition to two overclocked 8800GTXs.

Does anyone know how much of a heat dump those components I just listed put out?
07-30-2007, 01:01 AM
shiznit93

Hey Ranker, nice rig. I was wondering how that Tygon b-44-3 was working out for you, I was thinking of using it myself. In another post you mentioned that it hadn't started breaking down yet but that was a while ago. You are the only person I could find who's using that tubing, it would be awesome if you could keep us updated about its durability.
07-30-2007, 11:48 AM
ranker

Quote:

Originally Posted by shiznit93

Hey Ranker, nice rig. I was wondering how that Tygon b-44-3 was working out for you, I was thinking of using it myself. In another post you mentioned that it hadn't started breaking down yet but that was a while ago. You are the only person I could find who's using that tubing, it would be awesome if you could keep us updated about its durability.

Thanks.

The tubing is working out well enough. It hasn't stained with the use of any of my dyes and it has not clouded yet either. It'd be the perfect tubing if only it was a little bit more pliable and have a better bend radius. I'm very happy with the tubing overall, much more so than I was with 2075.
07-31-2007, 04:19 AM
Anemone

I got the 3/8 9/16 and the bend radius is good.
08-31-2007, 10:21 PM
ranker

So anyway, I think it's time to get pictures up of the finished rig. I think I'm finally happy with the way things are after the 9th rebuild (yes.... 9). I've managed to use up over 160ft worth of B-44-3 Tygon due to the rebuilds. Yeesh.

Anyhow, before I post pics, I seem to have a weird issue I can't seem to explain . My latest rebuild involved a motherboard swap as my Southbridge was crapping out. Before then, my temps reported from speedfan for my CPU loop, a e6700 running at stock speeds, were around 32-33C with ambient temperature around 27-29C. Load would push it up to about 38-40C.

Anyhow, with the recent motherboard swap and BIOS update, my temps now range around 46-48C idle and 55C load. What's strange is that nothing else was changed as I simply kept the entire loops intact. Now, I did multiple remounts (3 different remounts) and my recorded temps were all within 1-2C in deviation from the first run.

I'm at a complete loss at why my temps reported from speedfan all shot up by 15C across the board. My only guess is 1) the sensor on the motherboard is off by a ridiculous margin or 2) the BIOS flash did something wonky that might result in Speedfan reporting higher temps (sorta like the reverse of how G0 stepping processors reported 15C under what their true temps were).

Any ideas on what may have occurred?
09-01-2007, 12:50 AM
Jedda

Bios versions with my evga680i have had strong variations in reported temps. The evga forum reports that consistently. Everyones' temps go up or down with each new release. Also there's no board calibration.
So both of your causes are possible.
Wondered where you'd gone off to.
Pics? Yes please!
09-03-2007, 02:20 PM
ranker

My temps have me perplexed and I'm unsure if the change from an RD-30 to a DDC-2 (for the sake of room) or if the higher ambient temps have wrecked my previously recorded temps.

My CPU is currently running stock speeds at stock voltage.

With an ambient temp of 35C as reported by multiple news/weather sources in the city of Huntington Beach, I'm getting a reported 54C for my motherboard temp reading (in case). My room is hot due to various servers/gaming rigs/folding machines. Here are my recorded temps:

@ idle recorded by TAT, verified by Everest/Speedfan = 50C
@ 100% load recorded by TAT, verified by Everest/Speedfan = 62C

Even my GPU temps have been bothering me. According to Everest, my 8800GTX's report high idle temps with:

GPU = 49C
GPU Diode - 57C
GPU Ambient = 46C

Now here's what bothers me. Do I go by the temperature reported by my motherboard to be the ambient temp? or do I go by the weather/news agencies?

If I go by the motherboard temps, then my temps seem a bit more reasonable considering the delta between ambient/idle and ambient/load don't seem too drastic. However, if I go by the city's temps, then my loops suck ass.

Does anyone else get a 12C delta between idle/load for CPU only loops? Most of my other machines normally get much smaller delta's. I've rebuilt the loop several times with over 2 dozen remounts and my delta doesn't change. I'm wondering if throwing my RD-30 back in will help improve temps a bit.

I guess the reason I'm at such a loss is because most of my other water builds have been simple with maybe 2 loops at most. However, this has been my most complicated build to date with over 3 radiators, 8 waterblocks, 3 pumps, 3 reservoirs, and a partridge in a pear tree. I'm wondering if there's any variable I'm overlooking or if all of these things together are synergistically raising temps across the board.

At the moment, I'm stumped and welcome any insight, consolation, flames, etc.
09-03-2007, 02:45 PM
IanY

Quote:

Originally Posted by ranker

My temps have me perplexed.

With an ambient temp of 35C as reported by multiple news/weather sources in the city of Huntington Beach, I'm getting a reported 54C for my motherboard temp reading (in case). My room is hot due to various servers/gaming rigs/folding machines. Here are my recorded temps:

@ idle recorded by TAT, verified by Everest/Speedfan = 50C
@ 100% load recorded by TAT, verified by Everest/Speedfan = 62C

Hi,

Its been a while. Hope all is well.

Don't feel bad. Your system performance is still spot on. It really doesn't matter what the air temp is outside. Its the temp inside your case that matters. If your mobo temp is 54C and your TAT load temp is 62C, then you are in business.

I understand the concept of a hot room of computers. The only thing that will remedy that is focused air conditioning. You probably have central A/C in your California home. Over here, I have the computers close to a floor vent and yet have a portable room A/C going as well.
09-03-2007, 04:35 PM
ranker

Quote:

Originally Posted by IanY

Hi,

Its been a while. Hope all is well.

Don't feel bad. Your system performance is still spot on. It really doesn't matter what the air temp is outside. Its the temp inside your case that matters. If your mobo temp is 54C and your TAT load temp is 62C, then you are in business.

I understand the concept of a hot room of computers. The only thing that will remedy that is focused air conditioning. You probably have central A/C in your California home. Over here, I have the computers close to a floor vent and yet have a portable room A/C going as well.

Hey Iany,

Yeah it's been awhile. I've been focusing on my studies/internship as of late again. This Horizon was supposed to be the grand finale of all water cooling setups for some time due to the lack of anything interesting developing within the WC scene atm.

Anyhow, I'm feeling more at ease with the reassurance. However, I'm possibly reconsidering my fan setup. As of right now the fans on the backside of my Horizon are the intake (2 on the bottom with the PA120.2, 1 on mobo tray), with the front fans (3 on PA120.3, 1 on PA120.1 in the 5.25" bay) and original top (2) being the exhaust. I wonder if cool air isn't being drawn in the backside. I might reverse the air flow to go front to back, but i'm unsure of whether if there would be any improvement and if it would be noticeable. It'd require a total breakdown of the entire computer once again.

We have central A/C and it's currently on at the moment. However, my computer room still feels like a sauna according to most people. I'm wondering if anyone else's overclocks/temps have been suffering with the 36C/100F weather we've been getting in Southern California.
09-03-2007, 04:50 PM
nealh

Quote:

Originally Posted by IanY

Hi,

Its been a while. Hope all is well.

Don't feel bad. Your system performance is still spot on. It really doesn't matter what the air temp is outside. Its the temp inside your case that matters. If your mobo temp is 54C and your TAT load temp is 62C, then you are in business.

I understand the concept of a hot room of computers. The only thing that will remedy that is focused air conditioning. You probably have central A/C in your California home. Over here, I have the computers close to a floor vent and yet have a portable room A/C going as well.

I have a question..I hope this is not a hijack

How do we know the mobo temps

I have a Badaxe2...and use speedfan it reports an internal temp..is this mobo temp
if so my mobo temp right is 33C..cores are 33C and cpu temp is 37/38C

Now my PA160 loop typically had very similar temps vs my PA120.3 with the same components in the loop....e6600@3600 and x1900xt(my gpu temps went don 3-4C at idle on the new loop and load delta is 7c vs 12-13C on PA160)
09-03-2007, 07:44 PM
IanY

Quote:

Originally Posted by ranker

Anyhow, I'm feeling more at ease with the reassurance. However, I'm possibly reconsidering my fan setup. As of right now the fans on the backside of my Horizon are the intake (2 on the bottom with the PA120.2, 1 on mobo tray), with the front fans (3 on PA120.3, 1 on PA120.1 in the 5.25" bay) and original top (2) being the exhaust. I wonder if cool air isn't being drawn in the backside. I might reverse the air flow to go front to back, but i'm unsure of whether if there would be any improvement and if it would be noticeable. It'd require a total breakdown of the entire computer once again.

ranker,

I have generally been busy and have laid off the computers for a bit. Don't feel bad. I back off on basically all my overclocks, even as my summer weather here gets only into the low 90s/high 80s.

My opinion is that its not worth breaking down your rig right now. I am sure you have a bunch of higher priorities. The fundamental problem of room heat is not solved by simple reversal of fans, and probably will not be solved without running direct full blast a/c wind.
09-03-2007, 08:22 PM
ranker

Quote:

Originally Posted by nealh

I have a question..I hope this is not a hijack

How do we know the mobo temps

I have a Badaxe2...and use speedfan it reports an internal temp..is this mobo temp
if so my mobo temp right is 33C..cores are 33C and cpu temp is 37/38C

Now my PA160 loop typically had very similar temps vs my PA120.3 with the same components in the loop....e6600@3600 and x1900xt(my gpu temps went don 3-4C at idle on the new loop and load delta is 7c vs 12-13C on PA160)

Speedfan will grab your temps from your motherboard's sensors. However, each motherboard is different and needs to be configured differently. I'd consult the intel forums to see how one would set it up. In speedfan, my EVGA board displays the motherboard's/case temp as represented by the AUX sensor. However, other machines would have it correspond to the SB.

The most accurate and complete program to view all of the sensors on your computer would be Everest. Unfortunately for me, my Mcubed BigNG won't take input from Everest so I've been forced to use speedfan.

My delta isn't too bad but I'm starting to miss the 2C smaller delta I had in my CPU loop when I was running an RD-30.

Quote:

Originally Posted by IanY

ranker,

I have generally been busy and have laid off the computers for a bit. Don't feel bad. I back off on basically all my overclocks, even as my summer weather here gets only into the low 90s/high 80s.

My opinion is that its not worth breaking down your rig right now. I am sure you have a bunch of higher priorities. The fundamental problem of room heat is not solved by simple reversal of fans, and probably will not be solved without running direct full blast a/c wind.

I've been trying my best to ignore it until summer dies down so that I can objectively gauge my machines performance, but my OCD prevents me from just "letting it go". I'm obsessed with performance and this is my crowning achievement. But anyhow, you're probably right. I should get back to focusing on my law studies and my internships.

PS. Clinton 08!
09-04-2007, 12:18 AM
migueld

Hey Ranker, have you tried getting the ambient temp using one of the digital sensors on your bigNG? I have one of those outside my tower on a neutral spot, and I think that'd be the best way to read ambient.

Getting ambient temps from weather/news is useless IMO because it may have nothing to do with your particular room. PC rooms can be saunas with poor AC, or arctics with good ACs. So your ambient will vary considerably vs outdoor ambient.

What you mentioned about rad placement and cold air intake may be very important as well. Cold air on intake will make a huge difference and I think the difference could be exponential. I think that the deltas between idle/load will be different at low ambient vs high ambient temps. If you can try getting your room to good ambient temps and your rads with good cold intake that might solve your issue.
09-04-2007, 05:20 AM
IanY

Quote:

Originally Posted by ranker

I should get back to focusing on my law studies and my internships.

PS. Clinton 08!

Nothing tops hitting the books. BTW, I've been requested to be part of Rudy's campaign.. lol
09-04-2007, 05:31 AM
Grinch

Quote:

Originally Posted by IanY

Nothing tops hitting the books. BTW, I've been requested to be part of Rudy's campaign.. lol

:up: :up: :up: :up: hope he get's in there...:up: :clap:
09-04-2007, 05:45 AM
IanY

Quote:

Originally Posted by ranker

I've been trying my best to ignore it until summer dies down so that I can objectively gauge my machines performance, but my OCD prevents me from just "letting it go". I'm obsessed with performance and this is my crowning achievement.

ranker,

There is something I found out two weeks ago, and you may want to give this a try. No guarantees, but it worked well for me.

I was frustrated with the high mobo temps, even though I'm watercooling the full nine yards. Then I thought things through. Its not just the NB and mosfets that matter. The bottom line is that I rigged two Zalman fan brackets and somehow squeezed in two Antec SpotCools. Doesn't sound like much.. and it sure is an ugly mess.. but it worked miracles. The resulting effect was a 10C drop in the reported mobo temps. And what do you know.. I gained about 30 mHz in overclocking headroom.

Summary.. it sounds stupid, but fan cooling the waterblocks and mobo electronics helps considerably with stability.

BTW, the Antec SpotCools on the low setting put out twice the fan flow than the Corsair ram fans.. and are quieter too. On paper, the specs are very wimpy.. but that stuff works. Its not good if you want to show off your PC though.. its ugly.
09-04-2007, 05:45 AM
IanY

Quote:

Originally Posted by Grinch

:up: :up: :up: :up: hope he get's in there...:up: :clap:

Hey.. I was part of the last two winning campaigns as well lol
09-04-2007, 07:34 AM
Waterlogged

Quote:

Originally Posted by IanY

ranker,

There is something I found out two weeks ago, and you may want to give this a try. No guarantees, but it worked well for me.

I was frustrated with the high mobo temps, even though I'm watercooling the full nine yards. Then I thought things through. Its not just the NB and mosfets that matter. The bottom line is that I rigged two Zalman fan brackets and somehow squeezed in two Antec SpotCools. Doesn't sound like much.. and it sure is an ugly mess.. but it worked miracles. The resulting effect was a 10C drop in the reported mobo temps. And what do you know.. I gained about 30 mHz in overclocking headroom.

Summary.. it sounds stupid, but fan cooling the waterblocks and mobo electronics helps considerably with stability.

BTW, the Antec SpotCools on the low setting put out twice the fan flow than the Corsair ram fans.. and are quieter too. On paper, the specs are very wimpy.. but that stuff works. Its not good if you want to show off your PC though.. its ugly.

This is only common sense, those aren't the only things on the MoBo making heat. I had to explain this fact many times to the n00bs over at DD forums who wanted to go with only the rad fans. Every dang chip on the MoBo is making heat of some kind. Little or no air running over them and the MoBo can get really cranky.

Quote:

Originally Posted by IanY

Hey.. I was part of the last two winning campaigns as well lol

So your responsible for this mess we're in!! :p:

Ron Paul FTW! :up:
09-04-2007, 12:26 PM
IanY

Quote:

Originally Posted by Waterlogged

So your responsible for this mess we're in!! :p:

Ron Paul FTW! :up:

Wanna see the signed picture autograph? :)
09-04-2007, 12:51 PM
ranker

Quote:

Originally Posted by migueld

Hey Ranker, have you tried getting the ambient temp using one of the digital sensors on your bigNG? I have one of those outside my tower on a neutral spot, and I think that'd be the best way to read ambient.

Getting ambient temps from weather/news is useless IMO because it may have nothing to do with your particular room. PC rooms can be saunas with poor AC, or arctics with good ACs. So your ambient will vary considerably vs outdoor ambient.

What you mentioned about rad placement and cold air intake may be very important as well. Cold air on intake will make a huge difference and I think the difference could be exponential. I think that the deltas between idle/load will be different at low ambient vs high ambient temps. If you can try getting your room to good ambient temps and your rads with good cold intake that might solve your issue.

Thanks for the tip. I'll probably place one of the digital sensors in a neutral location to get a more accurate reading of ambient temps inside the case. As of right now I'm relying soley on the motherboard sensor to tell me what my ambient temps are.

The only reason why I mentioned the news/weather ambient temps is because my motherboard reports temps even higher than both my Tcase and my Tjunction! Now, I did some research and some mentioned that Foxconn's (they manufacture 75% of all Nvidia boards such as EVGA's, XFX's, etc) TIM used for the mosfets might not make contact completely with the heatsink resulting in higher motherboard temps. I went ahead and purchased the Alphacool regular universal MOSFET waterblock and a few extra mosfet heatsinks. I hope this helps because my motherboard temps a strangely high. We'll see if its accurate by using the BigNG's digital sensor.

Another problem is that my Tcase (CPU) and Tjunction (Core 1, Core 2) temps are almost the same. In all my other builds, the reported Tjunction temps were always 15C higher than the Tcase. I'm wondering why on this specific motherboard, I don't see this happening. I double checked my other water builds in my house, even another 680i build and everyone of them reported core temps to be about 12-18C higher than the CPU temps. I'm stumped on how come this isn't the case with my current machine.

Quote:

Originally Posted by IanY

Nothing tops hitting the books. BTW, I've been requested to be part of Rudy's campaign.. lol

Quote:

Originally Posted by IanY

ranker,

There is something I found out two weeks ago, and you may want to give this a try. No guarantees, but it worked well for me.

I was frustrated with the high mobo temps, even though I'm watercooling the full nine yards. Then I thought things through. Its not just the NB and mosfets that matter. The bottom line is that I rigged two Zalman fan brackets and somehow squeezed in two Antec SpotCools. Doesn't sound like much.. and it sure is an ugly mess.. but it worked miracles. The resulting effect was a 10C drop in the reported mobo temps. And what do you know.. I gained about 30 mHz in overclocking headroom.

Summary.. it sounds stupid, but fan cooling the waterblocks and mobo electronics helps considerably with stability.

BTW, the Antec SpotCools on the low setting put out twice the fan flow than the Corsair ram fans.. and are quieter too. On paper, the specs are very wimpy.. but that stuff works. Its not good if you want to show off your PC though.. its ugly.

I have some extra coolspots lying around that I'll try utilizing. However, I think I'm going to WC the mosfets with the Alphacool waterblock. I just hope it fits. I found that my motherboard sensor reports about a 42C boot up temp and then slowly climbs its way up to about 52C after about 15 minutes of being on. I'm not sure how to explain this. My associates are telling me its a combination of the high voltage Dominator Ram sticks, 2 8800GTX furnaces, 4 hard drives putting out heat and even my new Auzentech X-Fi Prelude 7.1 sound card (although I've never heard of a sound card putting out heat!)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Waterlogged

This is only common sense, those aren't the only things on the MoBo making heat. I had to explain this fact many times to the n00bs over at DD forums who wanted to go with only the rad fans. Every dang chip on the MoBo is making heat of some kind. Little or no air running over them and the MoBo can get really cranky.

So your responsible for this mess we're in!! :p:

Ron Paul FTW! :up:

As of right now I have a corsair dominator fan, and 3 case fans directed towards cooling the motherboard without any radiators attached to it. My Horizon came with an original top that has 2 fans mounted at the top to vent out all hot air. It also has a motherboard try fan to vent it out horizontally as well. I'm pretty sure I have decent air flow with over 8 120mm case fans. The only thing I'm worried about is if its in the optimal configuration.
09-04-2007, 10:53 PM
Waterlogged

Sound like that ought to be more than enough. How many fans are intake and how many exhaust in the case all together? Any pics we could study a bit?

Quote:

Originally Posted by IanY

Wanna see the signed picture autograph? :)

Ah, NO! We see enough of that stammering buffoon on the telly.
09-04-2007, 11:25 PM
ranker

Quote:

Originally Posted by Waterlogged

Sound like that ought to be more than enough. How many fans are intake and how many exhaust in the case all together? Any pics we could study a bit?

Ah, NO! We see enough of that stammering buffoon on the telly.

Yeah I'll try to get pics up soon. I'm the sort of guy who would rather post pics of an end result rather than a work in progress.

Right now I have 3 intake and 6 exhaust. I have the Horizon. I'm using the front side and top panel as my exhaust. One of my two 5.25" bays has been converted into a radiator mount with a 120mm fan. So that's 4 exhaust fans in the front. There are two 120mm fans attached to the "Original Top" on the top panel that are also set for exhaust. There are two 120mm fans in the back where the PA120.2 is for intake and another 120mm fan on the motherboard tray for intake. Both are in the back.

My plan of action includes:

1) breaking down the entire computer ....again and recording another 15ft of Tygon B-44-3

2) reversing the airflow: The fans on the front panel will be set towards intake, and the fans on the back panel will be set for exhaust. I will keep the 2 fans up top as exhaust. This will result in 4 intake, and 5 exhaust, hopefully balancing airflow a bit.

3) breaking apart my Fuzion to see if there's any clogs or something that might affect performance.

4) purchasing a new set of Fuzion mounting screws as I'm worried that my constant remounts has damaged/bent the screws in an awkward manner that makes it increasingly difficult to screw tight.

5) removing the main mosfet heatsink and replacing it with an Alphacool Heattrap RegCooler Universal G1/4: http://www.performance-pcs.com/catal...ducts_id=21796

I'll be using either MX-2 or Chomerics Thermattach® T412 Conductive Tape for it and placing an analogue temp gauge under the waterblock. Not sure which one would be better for this. Any suggestions?

6) I'll be replacing the secondary mosfet heat sink with individual mosfet heat sinks: Microcool Passive Heatsink MOSFET Chipsink

7) I'll be redo'ing all of my waterblocks with X23 instead of MX-2 (ugh, expensive).

8) Figuring out why my BigNG-Sensorbus won't read temps from my 6 water temp probes: http://www.performance-pcs.com/catal...ducts_id=20435

Anyone have any idea why it'd stop working all of a sudden? Would the location be a problem? I currently have it screwed into my Alphacool DDC top in the horizontal inlet.

9) Rearrange all of my temp probes:

Analogue:
1) CPU
2) NB
3) SB
4) Mosfet
5) GPU 1
6) WD500 HD
7) Raptor HD
8-10) Alphacool water temp probes attached to Alphacool DDC top.

Digital:
1) Case (any suggestions on where would provide the best objective case/ambient temps?)
2) CPU waterblock
3) NB waterblock
4) SB waterblock
5) Mosfet waterblock
6-7) GPU waterblock (any ideas where best location would be? I can't find a good "solid" place on my EK block)
8) RAM
09-05-2007, 11:03 AM
Waterlogged

I feel the same way about posting pics of my rigs before their done so I know how you feel.

The way you describe the fan layout kind of sounds to me like the RAM cooler is the only thing moving air on/over the board, and it might be directional at that. Flipping a fan or two up front might help or if you could, make up something for the back MoBo 120 that forces the air down sort of like this old Tt duct. http://www.directron.com/a1442.html What ever you do, try to keep negative pressure in the case (I'm sure I really didn't have to say that but, WTH, it couldn't hurt to remind you ;) ).

Those Microcool heatsinks stick pretty well if you heat up the tape real good. I've been able to lift a mATX MoBo w/Lian-Li mATX tray by them, that's how well they'll stick. Oh yeah, they work pretty decent as well :up:

Rest of your plan looks like pretty solid trouble shooting. GL, I have a feeling you may need it.
09-05-2007, 12:33 PM
ranker

Negative pressure as in more intake fans than exhaust fans right? or vice versa?

After much troubleshooting, the water temp probes will not work with the BigNG. This is a warning to everyone else so that they also won't make the same mistake. The BigNG requires that all temp probes have a resistance of 10kOhm to be compatible.

I went ahead and purchased some different ones instead: http://www.mcubed-store.com/catalog/...roducts_id=149

and will be inserting them into some AC "Plug and Cool" fittings to get water temp readings.
09-05-2007, 08:35 PM
Waterlogged

Ranker, the O.D. on the sensor is shown as 10mm, the P&C fitting is shown as 8mm. Did you link the right stuff?

+ pressure = more CFM into case

- pressure = more CFM out of case

Air will always find it's way through cracks to fill a vacuum but it'd rather just swirl around inside the case once it's there.
09-06-2007, 03:22 AM
ranker

Quote:

Originally Posted by Waterlogged

Ranker, the O.D. on the sensor is shown as 10mm, the P&C fitting is shown as 8mm. Did you link the right stuff?

+ pressure = more CFM into case

- pressure = more CFM out of case

Air will always find it's way through cracks to fill a vacuum but it'd rather just swirl around inside the case once it's there.

Yeah, I ended up buying both at Sharka's today, the 8mm temp probe and the P&C fitting. Theses work just fine as I just tested it. I just stripped down the entire machine back to its bare bones state. Tomorrow I begin the rebuild!
09-11-2007, 11:50 AM
ranker

The Horizon has finally been finished. Aside from possibly a few cabling tweaks and some rewiring of my T-Balancer BigNG, the Horizon won't see too much of a change.

During this build, I've learned some valuable lessons, I'd like to share with others who are considering doing some of the things I've done. The most important thing is that I never ever want to do a multiple loop build again...ever. The pain staking process of having to find room and innovative ways to mount/place components resulted in numerous rebuilds when things didn't fit as how I had planned it out. I probably spent over 2 weeks just drawing the loops out with exact measurements. However, once you get around to actually placing the components physically, they never quite fit as planned. At most, I'll do two loop builds in the future, but I'm most likely going to stick with single loop builds. The headaches are just not worth it. As much as I trust the 10 DDC's that I personally own and use in my multiple rigs, the thought of one failing, which would require me to disassemble the entire build, would probably drive me past the point of insanity. As great as the Horizon looks, rerouting tubing, especially with the pumps on the bottom, requires a total rebuild. In the future, I'll probably stick with a single loop with possibly multiple radiators powered by a single RD-30. I hate to say it, but I think this very project burnt me out from the watercooling scene... at least for a while.

Other things I've learned:
1) Hiding cables is a pain in the ass and requires multiple cuts in the motherboard tray that you didn't plan for with your first wave of cuts.

2) UV dye from Jab-tech and Alphacool are utter crap.

3) I never want to use automated hardware to control my fans/pumps again. Not only is the wiring a total messy, pain in the ass, but the hassles of setting it all up just isn't worth it. The first few days are great when you see all the information at your disposal but seriously, how often are you going to look at that stuff. I feel the same way about bay drive LCD's. Anyhow, in the future, I'll most likely be going back to my Sunbeam rheostats to control my fans and leave my pumps at full speed with RPM monitoring through the motherboard/bios/speedfan.

4) EK reservoirs only work right in one configuration. Even with the rev 2, the whirl pool effect still exists and causes bleeding nightmares. Do not ever route your tubing into your reservoir into the top like I did. It will never fully bleed out all of the air. The EK reservoirs are best setup with the intake and outlet on the same plane.

5) Cut out holes in your motherboard tray for all of your mounting posts for your chipset/CPU waterblocks. It will make life much more tolerable in the event you ever need to adjust the mounting hardware. You'll save yourself a few rebuilds when you realize that one waterblock wasn't mounted correctly. Case in point: EK NF4 1.1 Great block, but world's :banana::banana::banana::banana:tiest mounting mechanism.

6) Ambient temps in the Horizon really suck ass due to the motherboard tray keeping all of the components near the top where all the warm air congregates. I wouldn't recommend getting any other top other than the original top that has mounts for 2 120mm fans. You really need to keep the air moving in this case. My U2 posts ambient temps that are on average 5-7C better than my Horizon and it has 2 less 120mm fans. Now a few C's may be due to the 8800GTX's and other components in the Horizon, but for the most part, I believe the aesthetics of the Horizon come at a cost.

7) When you're planning an over the top build, expect to run about $300-400 over budget and about 2 months over your planned timetable. Simple builds = less chance of running over budget and quicker up time. I probably have over $600 worth of components and accessories that were meant for this build that remain unused only because I wanted it to be a badass rig. Of course, new things always get released and somethings don't fit right and basically at the end of the day, you have an RD-30, PSU, a few waterblocks, a bunch of heat sinks, a PA160, etc sitting in a box.

Original Top - a must have for all Horizon owners imho
http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/e...Horizon001.jpg

Horizon motherboard tray with cut outs for wire management
http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/e...Horizon002.jpg

Motherboard with analogue and digital thermal sensors attached
http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/e...Horizon003.jpg
http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/e...Horizon004.jpg

3 x DDC-2's with Alphacool's top all attached to Mountain Mods HD brackets for mounting on Thermochill PA radiators
http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/e...Horizon005.jpg

Custom cut/made acrylic reservoir holder for 3 x EK Reservoirs
http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/e...Horizon006.jpg
http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/e...Horizon007.jpg

3 x EK reservoirs with w/ Rev 2 bottom and original multioption tops
http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/e...Horizon008.jpg
http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/e...Horizon009.jpg

3 x DDC-2's w/ Alphacool's top attached to PA radiators
http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/e...Horizon010.jpg
http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/e...Horizon011.jpg

Horizon front with new Black Delrin Vandal Bulgin switches (blue on left, white on the right) and bottom 5.25" bay replaced with custom acrylic cutout to support a PA120.1 and 120mm fan
http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/e...Horizon012.jpg

Top and side views of the Horizon with all of the components on the bottom compartment installed
http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/e...Horizon013.jpg
http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/e...Horizon014.jpg

All waterblocks installed onto their respective components
http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/e...Horizon015.jpg
http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/e...Horizon016.jpg

Front
http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/e...orizon2001.jpg

Left side
http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/e...orizon2002.jpg

Front and top sides http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/e...orizon2004.jpg

Top side
http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/e...orizon2005.jpg

Right side
http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/e...orizon2006.jpg

Internal view w/ completed wire management
http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/e...orizon2007.jpg
http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/e...orizon2008.jpg
http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/e...orizon2009.jpg
http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/e...orizon2010.jpg

BigNG in the bottom right hand corner
http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/e...orizon2011.jpg

2 x MiniNG's and Sensorbus attached to underside of horizontal motherboard brace with velcro
http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/e...orizon2013.jpg
09-11-2007, 12:00 PM
Grinch

holy crap....got some BIG $$$$ going on there...nice!
09-11-2007, 01:19 PM
ranker

Finished with the pics. Hopefully I'll get some nighttime shots in tonight.
09-11-2007, 01:22 PM
stormshadow

this build scares me.

"H2O Cooled" applique .... talk about understatement
09-11-2007, 01:32 PM
ranker

Quote:

Originally Posted by stormshadow

this build scares me.

"H2O Cooled" applique .... talk about understatement

LOL. Should I have gotten one that said "H20 submerged" instead?
09-11-2007, 01:34 PM
RockfordFosgate

Woaowwww :slobber: :slobber: :slobber:
09-11-2007, 02:27 PM
DarthBeavis

Ranker you should consider trying watercooling dude :)
09-11-2007, 02:52 PM
Grinch

this build looks like a total piece of $hit...you should be ashamed of your modding skills and thought process...you need to send this to me immediately for a better evaluation.....*-)
09-11-2007, 03:04 PM
alexey

i agree with Grinch...u should just give your rig away for free cause it's no god,but not to him,to ME :p:
Astonishing man.Good JOb :up:
09-11-2007, 04:17 PM
leo_bsb

wow!
I was looking the pics and thinking... it won't fit. I'm sure it won't fit everything and he will just part the system with some noobs, just like me :D
Amazing work!
09-11-2007, 04:25 PM
ranker

Quote:

Originally Posted by DarthBeavis

Ranker you should consider trying watercooling dude :)

I think I might get my feet wet one of these days.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Grinch

this build looks like a total piece of $hit...you should be ashamed of your modding skills and thought process...you need to send this to me immediately for a better evaluation.....*-)

Quote:

Originally Posted by alexey

i agree with Grinch...u should just give your rig away for free cause it's no god,but not to him,to ME :p:
Astonishing man.Good JOb :up:

Thanks guys. I'll keep you in mind if I ever get fed up with the rig.

Quote:

Originally Posted by leo_bsb

wow!
I was looking the pics and thinking... it won't fit. I'm sure it won't fit everything and he will just part the system with some noobs, just like me :D
Amazing work!

Trust me. I thought it wouldn't fit for ages as well until I finally managed to use a crowbar to cram it all inside.
09-11-2007, 04:42 PM
shazza

Wow !!!! I'm just preparing for my first water cooling build ... DarthBeavis turned me on to Mountain Mods, so I'm going with the U2-UFO Opti-1230 case. I'm thinking maybe Ranker could just send me his new rig and I could forego all the uncertainty I am about to face :)
09-11-2007, 04:48 PM
ranker

Quote:

Originally Posted by IanY

No offense intended. It is not my intention to be rude.

[Never mind.. edited out the comments]

If you got critiques, by all means lay it on me. I'm a grown boy Iany. =)

Congratulations on your system!

Quote:

Originally Posted by shazza

Wow !!!! I'm just preparing for my first water cooling build ... DarthBeavis turned me on to Mountain Mods, so I'm going with the U2-UFO Opti-1230 case. I'm thinking maybe Ranker could just send me his new rig and I could forego all the uncertainty I am about to face :)

I thoroughly enjoy all of my MM builds. The only piece of advice I have is to NOT get carried away in thinking you'll have all the room in the world. Upon my first U2, I thought "wow so much room, I'll buy more stuff to fill it up"....

It doesn't work that way. It'll house the standard watercooling setup easily. However, don't go overboard as the thing fills up quickly when you realize there's not much wall/floor space to work with.
09-11-2007, 05:29 PM
shabranigdo

WOW just WOW. Damn impressive. I'm convinced I want a MM Horizon case. Though I may see about getting 2 sets of 3 120mm holes in the front panel. I have a question about your pump mounts. First looks real tight how you mounted them in the drive bays like that, How are those mounts for vibration and noise? It looks like maybe rubber spacers between the pumps and rails? And the third connection to your pumps are those temperature sensors, or some kind of flow sensor?

Also How do you like the 8800's with the full blocks? I am thinking of getting the BGF 8800's with the water blocks attached. This will be my first attempt at a water cooled system so still gathering ideas and information. I want a relatively quiet system, with the option available to me to OC it at the expense of noise.
09-11-2007, 05:33 PM
disruptfam

Wow Looks great.

Looks very cramped in there when packed out but stll looks amazing

Oh oh and what hd block is that?How restrictive is it? I might get a couple and do a third loop sb,hd x 2, could a single rad cool all that well?Also does 1 hd block take 1 drive bay?

cheers
09-11-2007, 05:57 PM
Snyxxx

ranker,

I have the bigNG, sensorbus and those exact temp probes from PPCs and have not had any problems.

From the tone of your message, they worked for a while and then stopped?

Not sure what to tell you. How many of these have you tried? Did you try to put it on your BigNG directly or only on the sensorbus?

Could always try this:

http://www.mcubed-tech.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=85
09-11-2007, 08:05 PM
ranker

Quote:

Originally Posted by IanY

Things that I think must go: BigNG, all EK reservoirs, the EK NF4 1.1. You can't/won't get rid of the Horizon, so I won't get into that. Maybe after you pass the bar, perhaps you may want to remove the fan grilles.

Are you saying this due to your water cooling ideology or is there objective reasoning behind the suggestions??

There's really no performance difference between an EK reservoir nor a Swiftech one. Microres' bleed faster than all other reservoirs, but other than that, why the no-no on the EK's?

Why get rid of the EK NF4 1.1? I get better temps with the EK NF4 1.1. Remember that before I purchased the complete EK set, I had MCW30's on each. Restriction is a moot point because the difference between the two are miniscule and they're both isolated on a meaningless 3rd loop.

The Horizon has its pros and cons. However, you might as well tell people to not use BTX cases altogether.

Why remove the fan grills? It's either that or the traditional wire frame grills.
09-11-2007, 09:29 PM
ranker

More pics:

http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/e...orizon3001.jpg

http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/e...orizon3002.jpg

http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/e...orizon3003.jpg

http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/e...orizon3004.jpg

http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/e...orizon3005.jpg

http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/e...orizon3006.jpg

http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/e...orizon3007.jpg

http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/e...orizon3008.jpg

Quote:

Originally Posted by shabranigdo

WOW just WOW. Damn impressive. I'm convinced I want a MM Horizon case. Though I may see about getting 2 sets of 3 120mm holes in the front panel. I have a question about your pump mounts. First looks real tight how you mounted them in the drive bays like that, How are those mounts for vibration and noise? It looks like maybe rubber spacers between the pumps and rails? And the third connection to your pumps are those temperature sensors, or some kind of flow sensor?

Also How do you like the 8800's with the full blocks? I am thinking of getting the BGF 8800's with the water blocks attached. This will be my first attempt at a water cooled system so still gathering ideas and information. I want a relatively quiet system, with the option available to me to OC it at the expense of noise.

The pumps are mounted to the 3.5" MM bay brackets utilizing rubber vibrational dampeners.

It's a water temp probe in the 3rd opening on the Alphacool top. It lets me monitor water temps without having to introduce a completely stiff brass T into the loop, making tube routing much harder.

The EK FC's are the best FC blocks I've owned. Mind you I haven't picked up the Swiftech Stealth rev 2's yet. However, I refuse to use any alu in my loops and won't use their blocks out of principle. I'd stay away from the build in blocks on the BFG's as they're made by DD. DD's 8800 blocks have piss poor quality when compared to others. I've purchased the blocks in the past and ebayed them after I got my MCW60's/D-Tek GFX's/EK FC's. My friend Spersky, who's build you can find on these boards, toasted one of his ultra cards due to a microfracture leak from the block. Luckily, newegg was kind enough to RMA the card.

Quote:

Originally Posted by disruptfam

Wow Looks great.

What runs off what? cpu loop gpu loop hd loop?

Looks very cramped in there when packed out but stll looks amazing

Oh oh and what hd block is that?How restrictive is it? I might get a couple and do a third loop sb,hd x 2, could a single rad cool all that well?Also does 1 hd block take 1 drive bay?

cheers

Oh it's definitely packed. I spent as much time as I could cleaning up the cables and wires but realized there's no place for them anywhere. However, I did bring this upon myself by intentionally seeing how much I could fit into one MM case.

You can find the type of HD blocks I have in my sig or the logs. Both were purchased from PPC's. I'm not sure how restrictive the acrylic single HD blocks are as it has a zig-zag water pattern. However, the dual bay HD Silencer/waterblock is almost an exact copy of the DD bay. In essence it's just 2 90 elbow's. I can't imagine that block to be too restrictive. If you're throwing all of that stuff on a loop of its own, then to hell with restriction. =)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Snyxxx

ranker,

I have the bigNG, sensorbus and those exact temp probes from PPCs and have not had any problems.

From the tone of your message, they worked for a while and then stopped?

Not sure what to tell you. How many of these have you tried? Did you try to put it on your BigNG directly or only on the sensorbus?

Could always try this:

http://www.mcubed-tech.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=85

The probes never worked for my BigNG nor my Sensorbus. I had utilized them in the past with standalone LCD read outs and they worked fine. However, they refuse to work with my BigNG when I connected them.
09-11-2007, 11:07 PM
shabranigdo

Quote:

Originally Posted by ranker

The EK FC's are the best FC blocks I've owned. Mind you I haven't picked up the Swiftech Stealth rev 2's yet. However, I refuse to use any alu in my loops and won't use their blocks out of principle. I'd stay away from the build in blocks on the BFG's as they're made by DD. DD's 8800 blocks have piss poor quality when compared to others. I've purchased the blocks in the past and ebayed them after I got my MCW60's/D-Tek GFX's/EK FC's. My friend Spersky, who's build you can find on these boards, toasted one of his ultra cards due to a microfracture leak from the block. Luckily, newegg was kind enough to RMA the card.

Thanks something to think about. I had figured why by a air cooled card if I was just going to rip the fans off anyway. I will look for more info on those DD blocks, where did you find single width 8800 cards, all the ones I have seen had the double back plane from the cooler, is that something I can just get aftermarket or does evga sell a fanless single width card?

Show 100 post(s) from this thread on one page