[Project] Antec, Black & Green

Hey All

I figured now that I'm half done with my build it's about time I start a worklog :rolleyes: :D

My original plan ideas were these:
- An uncommonnly modded, compact case
- Quiet
- Overclocking abilities
- Reasonably future proof
- Stay within my budget of around 1000 (this got blown away, heh)

I decided on an Antec Sonata. It's a bit difficult to work with and kind of cramped. So it appealed to me lol
Here's my part lists

Watercooling:

Swiftech Apogee GTZ modified to fit socket 1136 backplate
Swiftech MCW60 modified to fit 4850, custom hardware
Enzotech copper mosfet/memory coolers
Petra's Tech silver "kill-coils"
Black Ice Xtreme II radiator (this is the only rad I could fit. I originally wanted the swiftech)
Swiftech MCP-655 water pump with adjustable speed
Primoflex Pro LRT UV Green tubing - 7/16"
Fat Boy barbs - 1/2"
EK Res250 reservoir -- Switched to a 100mm EK-Multioption Tube after deciding to relocate the res
Distilled water for coolant
Pinch-style clamps; black

Cooling arrangement -- Pump > Rad > CPU > GPU > Res
Fan arrangement -- 2 x Push/Intake on rad, 1 x rear exhaust, 1 x center "intake" from front

System:

Antec Sonata case
Intel DP55kg mainboard
Intel Core i7-860 cpu
Corsair Dominator 4GB (2 x 2gb) PC3-12800 (DDR3-1600)
Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 4850
4 x 16gb MLC Emphase 2.5" SSD's, RAID0 64gb total
1 x WD Raptor 74gb for when I run out of room on the 64gb heh. this is my old OS drive on my current system
Dell PERC 5/i RAID controller

Other/Misc:

4 x Gentle Typhoon 1450rpm
2 x Aluminum fan filters from petras tech shop
Some generic analog 4-fan controller I got on ebay; it's the only decent one I could find for a floppy bay
approx 150' of braided sleeving used
Krylon Fusion Green paint
Krylon Semi-Gloss black paint
Krylon crystal clear enamel (clear coat)
(2) 2x2.5"-to-3.5" HDD converters (from Logic Supply)
Front case "power" led's swapped from blue to green


I'm sure there's a bunch of things missing that I'd like to add. I'll likely update this post when I remember. I'd like to get a total cost when I'm done

so I hope to make this list fairly detailed :D
I've been working on this build for about 3 months now on the side. My current system is an athlon x2 4400+ with an ati 4850 card. I've been working on

this build in my spare time at home and after hours at my office (I manage and am the lead assembly tech in the systems assembly department at Logic

Supply). I've been dubbed the "cable-nazi" at work lol

I owe a lot to xtreme systems. You guys have been HUGELY helpful. This is my first WC build and without the resources and info here I would be lost.
Cheers and thanks much

That's all I've really got for now. Here's some pics!

All pics located here:
http://img402.imageshack.us/gal.php?g=dscf2593k.jpg

Stock Antec Sonata ii (for before/after effect :-P )
http://ep.yimg.com/ca/I/extremepcgear_2086_1009739562

Mock-up of part locations:
http://img18.imageshack.us/img18/9466/dscf2590r.jpg
http://img18.imageshack.us/img18/1520/dscf2589m.jpg

My sexy custom modded MCW60 & 4850 :D
http://img686.imageshack.us/img686/2985/dscf2591u.jpg

mmmm so much flash:
http://img526.imageshack.us/img526/5475/dscf2573e.jpg

some paint shots:
http://img22.imageshack.us/img22/7976/dscf2579.jpg
http://img341.imageshack.us/img341/716/dscf2569.jpg
http://img18.imageshack.us/img18/4600/dscf2583t.jpg

bling
http://img12.imageshack.us/img12/7686/dscf2568j.jpg

trying to be "artsy"
http://img402.imageshack.us/img402/766/dscf2593k.jpg


i apologize for the crummy photo quality. I'm not very good w/ the flash/shutter speed thing :(

Sorry for the huge pics, I can re-size if it's not kosher with the forum "standards"

finished all of my tubing. filled the loop (had a funny mishap with my pump though lol)
and I'm bleeding the system now

my i7-860 is running approx 70-72*C from TJmax in the BIOS. i still can't find what the tjmax is on this CPU

i haven't gotten a temp reading on my vid card yet because I still need to set up the Perc5/i raid card. I'm not even sure if it'll work with this board yet. Here's to hoping it works!!

almost forgot the pics :-D

http://triton.imageshack.us/Himg709/...06.jpg&res=gal

http://triton.imageshack.us/Himg403/...04.jpg&res=gal

Well done on tube routing, that could have easily become a mess.

thanks much!

i had to install and remove practically all of them to adjust lengths
i measured long on all of them, installed, removed, then trimmed until there were no kinks
it was a lot of extra work but worth it in the long run

cabling done and hard drives mounted

i think I'm almost ready to call it a done deal :D

http://img710.imageshack.us/img710/2816/dscf2622.th.jpg

http://img32.imageshack.us/img32/9590/dscf2619h.th.jpg

http://img64.imageshack.us/img64/5457/dscf2615p.th.jpg

Looking great for a first WC rig. Curious why you chose the Sonata for your build? Also, are you sure it's a Sonata II, and not the original Sonata. I only ask as I've had an original Sonata sitting in the closet for years now, and I swear its the same one you have there. Not sure what to do with it or any of the other cases I have, lol.

this is the original sonata, sry

i used this one because it's cheap, small and uncommon :D
i got it from a local shop, they might've just had it labeled wrong

Yes it is uncommon. Thats why I noticed it. Antec went right to the Sonata II less than a year after the first one. The II had a thicker guage body (chasis stayed the same though), and got rid of the name "Antec" that was hole punched into the left panel. They decided to make it a budget line of cases for slient PC's. Having seen yours, I've been thinking about building something out of mine once I finish my game and crunch rig rebuilds. Good show on your first loop. I do have to agree with the others on the forum though, and really recommend that you add some worm clamps or at least some zip ties or herbie clips to the fittings. I'd hate to see your work go up in smoke because of a blown tube.

thank you :]

i definitely couldn't have gotten this build done without the prior expertise of the members here.
and with how many people are recommending i add clamps... i'll probably get some green zip ties and put those on there. thanks for the tip!

So what are your temps like? Also, how did you determin that only the BIX-II would fit and not the Swiftech MCR-220? From your pics, it looks like the rear 120mm exhaust does not have enough room for a sing 120 rad if you needed to expand. Is that a correct guess?

i haven't gotten an OS on there yet because my raid card doesn't seem to be working. It might be me... but I ordered a second to verify and test against
i don't really want to go to the trouble of installing an os and whatnot just to redo it next week.

in the BIOS, however, my Processor Thermal Margin is about 75*C
my "internal temp" and "remote temp" are about 20*C

if i turn the D5 down to 1 and turn the fans all the way down my PTM drops about 10*C

I still have yet to research where the "internal temp" and "remote temp" probes are.
I also don't know what the TJMax is on the i7-860 so I can't really tell what my true CPU temp is. I just know the PTM

I'll report back as soon as I get an OS on there :D


...I guess I *could* throw an Ubuntu live CD in and see if it'll pick up my temps

oh and to answer your question about the radiators.. I just did some measuring. I measured the distance from my PSU to the front of the case and found that the BIX.220 was the only one I could fit.

I did think about expansion and if I decide to add a 2nd loop to isolate the CPU. I'm really not sure where I'd put the 2nd radiator. I have enough room to squeeze a 2nd pump in for sure, maybe the res. But I think i'd have to put an additional 120 outside, screwed to the back of the case. I could route the tubing in through the pci blanks or something.


from my initial measurement notes:

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by me

28cm/280mm of “height” space for a radiator, leaving 0mm clearance from edge of case. preferable to stay 27.8cm or less in “height”

---

because the rad is so close to my psu, i also had to re-route the atx cables out the side of the PSU casing. I had to dremel out a notch around the backside.

Looking at it now that I have it installed, you might be able to get away with like a 280mm - 290mm height radiator. It'd be tight though

I've been posting random updates on different pieces of my system in some other threads. Overall things have been great, though :)

I am slightly concerned that my CPUTIN readings are inaccurate. How is it possible that my CPU case temp got up to 121 and is running at 80-ish if my core temps are so respectably low?

This is with my radeon 4850 maxed out in CCC Over-drive, also. I might use rivatuner and try to do some overclocking on it.

http://img136.imageshack.us/img136/1676/temps.jpg

as a side note -- i'm so paranoid this thing is going to leak lol

i did have one minor leak right off the bat at the cpu block... it was the barb. i tightened it down with a wrench and there's been no issues. I'm just so afraid to leave it running when I'm not RIGHT at my desk. I have a bunch of stuff i want to download while i'm at work tomorrow and i'm afraid to run it without me =/

Looks great at the small pics but I cant even see the huge ones. Great job =)

So what type of clamps did you end up getting? Any new pics with the clamps on them?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Anemic

Looks great at the small pics but I cant even see the huge ones. Great job =)

---

Thanks!

You should be able to click the thumbnails and open the full size pics...
Here's some links anyway

http://img710.imageshack.us/img710/2816/dscf2622.jpg
http://img32.imageshack.us/img32/9590/dscf2619h.jpg
http://img64.imageshack.us/img64/5457/dscf2615p.jpg

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Captain_Harlock

So what type of clamps did you end up getting? Any new pics with the clamps on them?

---

I reamed some zip ties on there for now. I'm not sure what I want to do for clamps. I see a fair amount of people with just zip ties so I feel fairly safe. I also have 1/2" barbs with 3/8" tubing. Between that and the zip ties I feel good about the seal. I check it pretty much every day with a flashlight and haven't seen any signs of leakage.

I'll take some new pics once my batteries charge :D

I also got some new parts today :D

Another 4gb kit -- I have 4 x 2gb for a total of 8gb
And a new PSU -- 850w OCZ

I've been getting some random BSOD's that are memory related. One half of my first 4gb kit (one 2gb stick) was defective so I sent it back for replacement. I'm not sure if I had insufficient memory for everything or if it's under powered. My PSU was pretty weak though. Hopefully between these two upgrades I should rid myself of the blue screens.

You did get QVL memory, didnt you? On performance rigs, BSOD's do tend to go hand in hand with non QVL memory. As far as zip ties go, there is nothing in the world that is wrong with them. They work, are simple to work with and are cheap. You shouldnt have to worry about leaks with zip ties. They just dont look as actractive as compression nuts, hose clamps or worm clamps.

I checked corsair's website for compatible memory and went from there. Now that you've mentioned it, though, I double checked. The mainboard manual says that running memory over 1.6V could cause damage to my cpu.

The memory I got is rated at 1.65V.

I may try to clock it down to 1.6V in the BIOS to prevent any potential damage

:D :D

http://img200.imageshack.us/img200/3...ienceindex.jpg

Lookin' good, dullers.

Thanks again for the guide you did on painting GT fans.

thank you!

and of course! there's probably not much I'll do that hasn't already been done, so I'll try to sneak in whatever (simple) insight I can. ha
I've learned a lot here. lot's of talent at XS :]

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Captain_Harlock

So what type of clamps did you end up getting? Any new pics with the clamps on them?

---

Here's some shots from today of the zip ties, another "final" shot of everything (except for my new memory and PSU), and a shot of the "cool" LED skull from my intel SkullTrail mainboard lol

http://img214.imageshack.us/img214/8315/dscf2640.th.jpg
http://img31.imageshack.us/img31/6995/dscf2635v.th.jpg
http://img90.imageshack.us/img90/8123/dscf2634f.th.jpg
http://img685.imageshack.us/img685/3...cf2641y.th.jpg
http://img38.imageshack.us/img38/4794/dscf2632x.th.jpg


edit: please don't mind the random sata cable + molex connector just hanging out. i'm planning to add two more ssd's at some point

finally did some overclocking today :D

turns out my memory was incompatible. I went with some QVL memory and it works much better. I have Kingston 1333mhz 1.5v memory now.

I turned the memory up to ~1800GHz 1.6v. Stock everything else (haven't messed with the latencies yet)
I turned the CPU up to 3.9GHz with Intel's "Turbo Mode" enabled. Stock voltages and everything else. Basically Turbo Mode just downclocks based on temps. I found running prime95 (all "8" cores at 100%) for about 30 minutes got my temps into the mid 40's and the CPU downclocked to 3.2GHz. I might turn the Turbo Mode off because I'm fine with those temps. Even if it's 50-60*C at 100%, I feel comfy with that. I don't foresee ever taxing my cpu to that extent.

Screenies:
http://img532.imageshack.us/img532/2978/prim95.th.jpg

http://img683.imageshack.us/img683/4...lingoff.th.jpg

Oh! I also got my new PSU and RAM cooler installed. I tore down the PSU, sleeved it all (boy was I not stoked to do yet ANOTHER psu sleeving for this build, lol), and swapped out the blue LED's for green, since I'm going with a green LED theme eventually

Here's a before + after

Before
http://img718.imageshack.us/img718/9...cf2641p.th.jpg

After
http://img9.imageshack.us/img9/198/dscf2659o.th.jpg


And probably my favorite pic so far :D (click for full size)
http://img413.imageshack.us/img413/6860/asdfxw.jpg

I gotta get that on-board white led swapped to green. too bright and out-of-theme

Did some overclocking, got my Windows index up a bit :D
I don't think I can push it much farther with the OC knowledge I have. This was about as high as I could get my memory/cpu/gpu and still stable. I'm not very well versed at upping voltages to further clocks. This should suffice though!

http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/7839/wei32910.jpg


also ordered 2 x 2gb memory tonight. might bump my memory up a little again :D