Worklog Project Monolith

[Santzia]

Hello.

This will be my first ever buildlog.
Atfer having read alot of buildlogs here on XS i decided it was time to post my own.
I have only been using laptops for the last couple of years.
This isn´t my first water cooling build. But lets just say that the last one (and only one) i did was a looong time ago.

After looking around a bit and choosing the right hardware, what i thought was right anyway, I started ordering parts.

First i thought i wouldn´t spend so much money on the computer and bought an intel e6700 with a cheap asus motherboard and an asus 4770.

And then I started thinking.. is this hardware even goint to be worth watercooling much less overclocking?

So I searched for used hardware on some local Swedish hardware sites.
and ended up buing an asus maximus II, q9550, 8gb Corsair Dominators and then i bought 2 asus 4890 from a online dealer.

It was a good setup i thought. But reading all the buildlogs here and finding some good watercooling parts i noticed that it wasn´t going to be a cheap build. and If Im going to spend money I might as well spend some on even better hardware.

So I bought an evga X58 SLI LE, because it was the only all black board motherboard I could find, an Intel I7 920 and 3gb ddr3 1600+mhz memory.


So now i had the hardware figured out.
I started to look around for watercooling parts and a case.
The Thermaltake Mozart TX ended up catching my eye and
I bought one of them.. and they are Huge.. Atleast untill you putting stuff in them (more on that later).


And I orderd som parts from EK as I really liked the design.
And as I had decided to try and build an ALL black computer.

2 ek D5 Tops
2 ek 4890 Fullcover accetal blocks
1 ek Supreme LT (only all black ek block I could Find)
1 ek x58sli le full cover mb block


with all of this I ordered an mcp665 pump.
And i wanted to use the square backpart of the mozart case and ordered a Phobya 480 Square radiator. Yess I could have used 2 240 radiators but i thought I´d give the phobya a try. If I don´t get good temeratures with It I can always order 2 thermochills later.
ANd then I measured the case abit and decided to fit another radiator next to the motherboard to cool the gpus. But that had to a a slim radiator so after doing some reading I found the Magicool triple Slim 360.
I had to cut out about 1/2" of metal from the case to fit it but it fits.

That was the main part of the hardware.
When I got the waterblocks i started to remove the stock cooling from the 4890s and thats when i found out that ASUS hade changed the layout of the 4890s so that they wherent reference design anymore.
I hade checked this when I first started to look for the cards.
This p**ed me off. I now had 2 water blocks and 2 gpus I couldn't use.

I ordered 2 xfx 5850 cards instead.
But as they now almost 2 months later still haven´t come in stock.
I ended up buing an ASUS ENGTX295 and matching waterblock from EK.
If the 5850s ever come in I will test and see what card/cards give me the Frame rates.

So thats pretty much where I am right now with this build.
Monday I sent the mozart case to be powedercoated. ANd with some luck It should be in my hands tomorrow again.
I am also currently waiting to get my 2nd mcp665 pump delivered.

Tha plan is to use the 480square radiator to cool the CPU and MB. And use the 360 Radiator to cool the GTX295 card.



So any thought?

This build isn´t going to be the fastest ever as I´m currently working 7days a week untill xmas. but then again I have the 2 first weeks of january off and hoping to finish it by then.

/ Santzia

[kgtiger]

You go about thing in a interesting way Santzia, a little like a bull at a gate.
Have a think about this, and please, I am not attacking you, just one old bull to another.

Please take your time, you stated that you have read lots of work log here at XS.
But have you asked any questions yet?
Unless you like working 7 days a week to spend money on hardware that may or may not give you what you want, then Please try this.

Before your next update, take the time to writte down all the hardware you intend to use, both the hardware you have bought and feel you still need.
Then in your next post/update, list all the parts by name or give links to the sites, and then, give the people here a chance to look at them and let them, give you there
honest opinion, as to how they feel the parts you have chosen will work out for you.

The smartest thing I feel any one person can do in life, is suround them selves with smart/knowladgeable people.
Thats just what you have done here, by starting your work log here at XS.

Its just an idea, might save you some time and money.

[aka_GK]

^^^^ this guy always talks wise things here, no doubt

gonna be interesting, subscribed

[Santzia]

Hello.

Thank you for the input. I shoud have started with listing all the hardware.
Guess I was a bit to excited to start the whole logg.
I have goten that reaction regarding this build from a few other people also.
Only thing I really can say is that I AM very impulsive. And most of the time it hurts my wallet a bit

And I must admit that I haven´t asked that many questions, not here on XS anyway. Just regarding the radiators and if I should go for a single loop or a dual loop system. (Got som great advice from millertime too)

I do like working 7 days a week but that hasn´t got that much to do with the build. Let´s just say that there is a shortage of good cooks in stockholm (I do really hope I spelled that right I always get confused about that spelling).

Anyway the hardware that is going to be used and already bought for this build is.

Intel i7 - 920
3gb A-data 1600+ Ddr3
Evga X58 SLI LE
Asus ENGTX295
ThermalTake Mozart Tx Big tower case
ThermalTake ToughPower 1200w psu

And the water cooling parts:

Phobya Extreme Quad 480 Radiator
Magicool triple 360 slim Radiator

Swiftech MCP-665 pumps x2 (still waiting for delivery on the 2nd pump)
EK PumpTop EK-D5 X-TOP x2

EK Water Block EK-Supreme LT Acetal
EK Water Blocks EK-FC295 GTX SLI - Acetal
EK Motherboard block EK-FB EVGA X58 LE - Acetal Nickel

XSPC 5,25' Bay Black reservoirs x2
4meters Masterkleer tubing 19/13mm UV- reactive black
Silver nickel plated Screw-on fittings x16
Silver nickel plated 90° Screw-on fittings x2 (I need the 90° to mount the Phobya radiator)
Yate Loon D12SL-12C slim fans x3 (for the 360 radiator they need to be slim to fit)
Noctua NF-P12-1300 x4 (for the Phobya Radiator)
Fan shrouds 10mm x4


Thats all the hardware and watercooling parts I have bought so far.
Appart from screws, bolts and such.

The 2 EK Full cover blocks for HD4890 are goint to be used for another build so they don´t go to waste.

Still have 2 XFX 5850´s on order, they should come in on january 1st.
I will try them out and the best performer stays and the lesser ones go in to my girlfriends computer.
I might be getting 1 more gtx295 not sure yet. this depends on if I get a good deal on it.

I couldn´t find that much input regarding the phobya extreme quad.
So I went for trial and error. If it doesn´t give me good temps I will go for the 2 x thermochill PA 120.2 instead.
And as for the 360 Being the slim version and not something else.
Well that is because I can´t fit any newer (read longer) videocards if I used a radiator that was thicker then 30mm. But I´m hoping it will work out.
If not I have a plan B already in mind. Just putting a Thermochill PA 120.2 in the 5.25" bays. I measured and it will fit even with Gentle Typhoons in push/pull configuration.
And I already own a PA 120.2 Was going to use it for my other build.

I spoke to the company that is powder coating the Mozart for me and it seems that I might not be getting it until Tuesday. So all I can do right now is start sleeving the fans and Psu. Then rinse and clean all the flux out of the radiators.

I don´t mind criticism as it will help me in the long run.
So please if you have any thoughts share them.

/ Santzia

Ps. I didn´t read about the Aquatuning beef until after I had ordered the radiators from them. Let´s just say I won´t be dooing that mistake again and leave it at that.

[kgtiger]

A Chief hay, excellent.
By the way any advice from millertime will always point you in the right direction.
Nice work

[Santzia]

Ok time for a small update.

I got my case back from the painters yesterday.
Well that is only partly true. I had sent in the front of the Mozart case also to be powder coated black, and there was a big spot right at the center of the front where the powder coating hadn´t stuck.
They told me that they would sand it down again and re powder coat it for me.
The case it self looked good so I brought that with me home.

Some pictures:




And more good news I should have a 2nd GTX295 delivered to my doorstep tomorrow if the Swedish postal office parcel tracking is correct.
However I can´t afford a new water block for it until next week when I get payed.

This was my first day off in roughly 7 weeks and I spent most of it catching up on some of my favorite TV shows while sleeving some cables.
Man that is booring work but the end product is worth it.





I even had the time to install the EK-D5 X-TOPs on my Swiftech MCP665 pumps they went from:

To:

To end up like:


And just now I found black molex connectors from performance pcs.
Will have to put in an order for them next week.

Made an effort to get out of the house for a couple of hours. And took a trip to a hardware store in town and bought some screws to be able to mount the radiators.
As the screws I got with them where to short for the quad rad, as I am going to use fan shrouds, and to long for the triple rad.

Then I finaly started getting somewhere with this build,
I mounted the Phobya Xtreme QUAD 480 Radiator. It fit like a glove.



So that is pretty much where I am at the moment.
I have decided to buy a light tent (is that a correct term? I´m not 100% on the translation) to be able to take better pictures as I´m not happy with the quality of the pictures so far. Once I find a suitable light tent I will retake all the pictures and edit the posts.
Will try to mount the magicool triple 360 SLIM radiator tonight.

Any questions, comments, tips or ridicule?

/ Santzia

[Hsusy]

Love the square RAD.... Looking forward to further development.

[Santzia]

Thanks for the input.

I Installed the Magicool Triple Slim 360 just now.
And for that nice comment I´ll up some more pictures.







For once I feel like I got something done today. I started planing and ordering parts for this build about a month ago and now I am happy to finaly see some progress.
And those nice sleeves can anyone NOT guess where they are from?




I really need a bigger apartment so I can have a room for my hobbies. Right now my livingroom looks more like a stockroom with empty and full boxes, screws and tools laying everywhere.
Anyways it´s almost 3am over here so I´m of to bed.. thank god I get to sleep in late. don´t have to be at work untill 15.00

/ Santzia

[kgtiger]

Nice work Santzia, can you tell me how much extra performance you will get from the EK-D5 X-TOP?
I have only really looked into the DDC3.2/3.25 pumps, but not the MCP665 pumps.
Just would be nice to know thats all.

Nice to see you taking some time of work, this is something you really should do more often.
Just from one X work-a-holic to another.

[Santzia]

Ktiger: Skinnee did a review of the top http://www.skinneelabs.com/Pumps/D5/...-Top_Rev2.html and it did show some improvement over the stock
I mostly picked the top because I really didn´t like the way the stock top looked and since i went with almost everything else from EK.
I just love the look of black accetal

Right now i am in the process of reinstall indows on an older p4 computer I had way back in a closet. So that when I rip all the hardware out to start mounting the water blocks I can till get my daily dose of buildlogs.. They are addictive..

I still have a little bit of sleeving left mainly the atx cable from the Psu. and then 2 more pci-e connectors for the 2nd gtx295.

Will update shortly.

/ Santzia

[Scubar]

you will very quickly run out of room in that Mozart, I recently pulled my Mozart build apart that used some 240 rads, was very cramped inside.

[Santzia]

Scubar: I have noticed this also. But I am determined to finish this build.
I have test fitted everything and it should fit. Although I didn´t have any tubing hooked up but still It should work, no it WILL work.

I have a brand new Lian Li pc343 sitting in storage that I was going to use for a home media server.. But I might just have to take that for my next build.

/ Santzia

[Santzia]

I think it´s about time for an update.
I have been really busy with work. With being a chef and it being Xmas and all.

But I have had some time to fiddle with my build.
I have finally gotten all the parts I needed and have started assembling.

First up was installing the EK x58 Sli LE full cover block on the motherboard.
Couldn´t have been easier. to me about 45 min from start to finish and I must say that I like the result.



And as a Xmas present for my self I bought a new cpu from Ebay.
a i7 920 that was guaranteed to hit 4.6ghz. I ended up paying $15 less then I would have for a new cpu here in Sweden.
When that arrived I mounted it and the EK Supreme LT.





So far so good.
After all of that next up where the Gpu´s.



Opening them up wasn´t and major problems.



The thermal pads and grease where so dry that when i touched them the would crumble. Might be why i had an idle temp of 65-70 degrees Celsius.
And after a bit of cleaning



After that I used the enclosed thermal pads as instructed and Mx2 I ended upp with this




And by now it was all ready the 23d and I got 2 Xmas presents from Nils over
at MDPC-X. More sleeving yeay...



And as I had been stupid enough not to double check my order until the day after I noticed I had missed to order more of the small black sleeving.
So another order had been made to Nils.
Nils´s fast shipping still amazes me. first order was placed on Thursday and the 2:nd was placed late Friday night.

They arrived on Tuesday and Wednesday. Just in time for Xmas and my 2nd day of in December..

So now it was time to start installing all the hardware into the case.
First I drilled some holes for the pumps.
One would go on the backside of the motherboard tray.
Where the mini-itx board and power supply is supposed to go.



And the other underneath the Gpu´s.



Having done that I mounted the motherboard and Gpu´s and started to measure the lengths of tubing I would need.

This is where I first started to run in to problems..
I had bought an sli water connection for the water blocks.
With the x58 Sli Le having an x1 pci-e port in between the 2 16x ports I ordered the correct connection.
But, when I started to install the gpu´s I notices something I hadn´t thought about... Namely tha 295 cards I was using where the dual PCB version.
So the connector was to long..
A minor setback so I ordered a new connector and decided to go ahead and continue with the installation with only 1 graphics card.



Now came time for the leak testing.



After 1.5h of running the pump for the gpu loop I had gotten most of the air out of the loop and no signs of an leaks.
So I switched and started to leak test the cpu loop.
After another 1.5h of leak testing the cpu loop I was confident enough to boot up the system.


... No picture! the computer booted up just fine but i didn´t get anything on the monitor. Now I really started to get nervous..
No mater what I couldn´t get the monitor to show any sign of it beeing connected to the computer..
The graphics cards it self didn´t give me any red lights just the normal green.

I checked the Post display mounted on the motherboard and it gave me an error message 7F. according to the manual that was "Check post error and display them for user intervention"

No mater what I tried still no picture.
So I emptied the gpu loop and exchanged the graphics card for the other one,
filled the loop again and leak tested for another 1.5h.

This time when I booted up it worked like a charm.
I got to the POST screen and noticed that the post display on the motherboard displayed the 7F error. It turned out to be the motherboard recognizing that a new cpu was installed. press f1 to continue or del to go in to the bios.

I had put away my "c:" drive earlier as i didn´t want to install windows 7 straight away when just installing water cooling.
This way i could boot in to windows and check the temperatures and see that everything is stable before starting a fresh install.

I must say I was happy with the temperatures.
I had used the 480 phobya radiator for the cpu and motherboard
And using the Magicool 360 for the gpu.
My cpu temperatures in idle are between 31 and 38 degrees Celsius on all cpu cores
and gpu core temps are 34 and 36 degrees Celsius.

I used 4 Noctua NF-P12-1300 on the 480 radiator for the cpu.
Connected to my Zalman ZM-MFC1 Plus fan controller, all of the running on low.
Having read that the noctuas really aren't that good for use with radiators
I ordered 4 Yate Loon D12SL-12D 38mm fans. Haven´t gotten around to installing those yet though.

Here is a picture of the setup so far.


It´s up and running.
Last night after I came home from work I decided to remove the waterblock from the other 295 card and remount the original cooling to test the card in another computer I have.

Only now when i install it in my other computer it gives me a red light and sort of clicks. The fan won´t spin up or anything.
I tested with other power cables and still the same result..
Damn I think I might have destroyed the card...

Well that is pretty much it for now.
I can´t install the 295 in my main computer right now because of the tubing beeing in the way.
So I have decided on 2 things.
First of all I am going to put everything in 1 loop.
Because I can fit everything in side but the 2nd loop gives me so much extra tubing running around in the case that it doesn't look good.
When I do this I will test the 2nd 295 card some more.
And 2nd is that I will be using 2 5850´s in this rig.
It´s more then enough for my needs and it would save some money on the electric bills.

I will update when I have more progress. I am of from work for 2 weeks starting December 30th. So I´m hoping to get all my parts and have the computer up and running before I have to go back to work again.

/ Santzia