Lazylog Nigredo (Obsidian 800D 560+280)
Build name: Nigredo (blackness). At first I thought of using Fat Panda or Onigiri because of large-ish components & initially choosen black components/white tubing, but later on decided to go (almost) all black, hence the change in build name.
What's special: (almost) internally mounted 4x140mm rad in Corsair Obsidian 800D
What to (or not) expect: Pics of very bad quality because of NO photography skills and cheap camera. Very slow work progress mostly due to financial circumstances, great lazyness of mine and lack of moding skills and tools. On beautifying front still not decided if to sleeve or not, but coolant will be dye-less distilled, probably no LED/UV lightning/transparent water blocks. Oh! And i have no cute pets as project mascot :).
Pics of completed build: N/A for long time :)
PC HW:
[*] Case: Corsair Obsidian 800D
[*] PSU: Seasonic 1000W Platinum Active PFC
[*] Motherboard: Asrock Z77 Extreme4
[*] CPU: i7 3770K IB
[*] RAM: Corsair Dominator XMS3 DHX+ 2x4GB 1600MHz dual chan. kit 9-9-9-24 CMP8GX3M2A1600C9
[*] GPU: EVGA GTX690
[*] Audio: Creative SoundBlaster X-Fi Titanium HD (output via NAD C372 amp + Dali Ikon 7 speakers)
[*] Disks: Corsair Performance Pro 256 GB + cheap SATA 400GB HDD
[*] Miscellaneous devices: Logitech MX Performance mouse, MS Natural Ergonomic Keyboard 4000, Thrustmaster HOTAS Warthog joystick & throttle, Saitek Pro Flight Combat Rudder Pedals, Naturalpoint TrackIR 5 head tracker.
LC & moding components:
[*] Rad1: HWLabs Black Ice SR-1 560 4x140mm rad
[*] Rad2: Magicool Slim 280 2x140 rad
[ ] CPU WB: Probably EK Supreme HF
[*] TIM: Indigo Extreme and/or Shin-Etsu X23-7783D
[ ] GPU Full cover, going to choose later on.
[ ] Other waterblocks: Motherboard full cover or block on mosfets (if i'll find one that fits chosen motherboard) and MIPS RAM Cooler 7
[*] Pump(s) 2xMCP35X with stock tops or with new MCP35X2-H dual pump top
[*] Tubing: Black Primochill PRO LRT 1/2”ID 3/4”OD (+Clear 3/8”ID 1/2”ID to connect res to fill port/water level indication)
[*] Coolant: Distilled water with Iandh silver kill coil and Mayhem biocide
[ ] Controller: Aquacomputer Aquaero 5.0 XT + black front plate + waterblock
[*] Monitoring extras: Koolance FM-17 and Bitspower temperature probe/stop fitting
[*] Fans: 15 x Noiseblocker's 140mm PK-3. +1 x Scythe Gentle Typhoon AP15 1850.
[*] Reservoir: Iandh Stealhres 275
[~] Rad grills: Iandh Limited 4x140 Stealthgrill 560 & two 420 Phobya grills
[~] Fittings: Bitspower's mostly compressions & rotaries for 1/2”ID&3/4”OD in Black Mate finish, +few black extenders/snakes/fill ports/caps/angle adapters and maybe even barbs :)
[ ] Sleeving: (if ever) MDPC
[~] Miscellaneous: Scythe Kama Bay+ (with original fan replaced by GT), DEMCi Flex 2x140 and custom 560 4x140mm dust filters, rubber C-strip/rubber grommet edging to put over dremeled cuts, can of black paint spray can to hide some mis-cuts with dremel and chipped or dremeled off paint in few places :), black fan 3-pin connectors and perfboard for custom fan splitter, black wire fan grills, MDPC P-clips for tubing and cable management, miscellaneous screws from several shops.
Tools:
[*] Dremel 300+55pcs set
[*] Masking tape, sandpaper, rusty screw driver set, files, pencil, ruler tape
[ ] soldering iron, MDPC crimping tool
Generic build & airflow scheme:
- Dust filtered with fans blowing inside of case 4x140 rad on top of case with fans in push-pull setup (rad inlets placed out of case - 800D is too small(!) :D), 2x140 slim rad on right side of disk enclosures (with fans probably in push for easier fan change).
- Case fans blowing out of case: 1x140 on back, 3x140 on right, 1x140 on top of 280 rad, 1x120 in Scythe Kama Bay in 5.25 bays.
Seeing testing results of dual vs single loop by Gabe decided keep things simple, and go single loop everything. Dual pump top for redundancy.
All rad fans will be on one Aquaero channel, all case fans on another, for simpler case air pressure balancing for dust protection. MCP35X pumps will be regulated by 4th (PWM) aquaero channel via Y-wire-splitter with tachometer wire from one going to another channel for both pumps to be monitored for rpm-s.
Mistakes/afterthoughts:
- Should have initially gone for 3/8”ID 1/2(or 5/8)”OD everywhere. I know that bigger ID enhances flow only little bit, went for big tubing mostly because of looks. 3/8” ID would be way simpler to route and would have smaller fittings better fit for few cramped spaces like top sides of case near rad or behind motherboard tray.
- Yate Loons D14SM should perform about the same while costing 3 times less, I was mistakenly thinking that noiseblocker's NanoSli bearings were hydrodynamic ones instead of sleeve bearings that I found out only after pulling order plug :(. Obscured tech naming/marketing victim +1. Pity there are no Scythe Gentle Typhoon-s of 140mm size :(. Also Yates should fit better to all black build scheme instead of brownish blades of PK3.
- Should have bought cheaper/smaller dremel set. Had no need for flexible attachment, almost didn't use anything else but few cutting disks and mini lap.
- It's not exactly mistake, but deliberate build choice – I know with this rad combination is simply too much for cooled hardware, but I wished to make one case+LC combo that will suffice for years no matter what hot hardware future upgrades will bring. +It should get good temps And be very silent. Also good exercise to fit MOAR Rads that maybe can help others considering different rad options in this case.
Hmm, given choice again, I'd probably went for 4x120 on top + 4x120 in bottom compartment with PSU placed vertically mod. Also another alternative was to decide to reimplement power&reset buttons/external ports elsewhere and mount 4x140 rad fully internally (with inlets in front, in space of front wall/5.25 bay covers).
- As I changed my mind few times about rads/airflow planning, there was some redundant job done (eg. I shouldn't have cut out honeycomb mesh from middle floor and bottom of case, as in at final design there will be no fans to blow air in).
Links to few interim build steps/posts with relevant info (to update later on):
Full extended used hardware list (when near finishing i'll be able to count/list exact ammount/types of fittings used :) ).
Tools.
Top rad mouting alternatives, schemes.
Res, tubing, fill port, drain port setups.
Monitoring/controlling.
Temps.
Sleeving/wire management.
Finished build.
Thanks: To all the users on XS & overclock.ru for source of ideas and inspiration (especially Noeru with his Blood+ build for initial ideas), help with questions, all skinneelab guys, Martin and Jordan for LC hardware tests/reviews.
