Watercooled Shuttle SX58H7 + HD5970 (lots of photos)

[gaz_az]

Hi - recently got the idea of watercooling a shuttle SH58H7, after seeing a post by Seeker over at overclockers.com.au

http://forums.overclockers.com.au/sh...d.php?t=815185

I have taken things one step further and managed to install an ATI HD5970 card. I'm hoping this is the first time this has been done.

I have only had it fired up an running tonight. Seems stable at 4GHZ, but haven't really pushed it. Did a quick Vantage score without overclocking the graphics card and got around 23,500.

General hardware includes .....

Shuttle SX58H7
Core i7 920 D0
Intel x25-M 160 SSD
Corsair XMS3 6GB
ATI 5970 with EK water block
x2 92mm Black Ice GT Xtreme radiators and Zalman LED fans
EK-DDC X-RES 100
18W MCP355 pump
EK-Supreme HighFlow CPU block


1) Board removed and CPU block fitted



2) EK HF water block



3) Stripped case



4) Front of case marked to cut hole for graphics card



5) Card and water block, showing too long for case



6) Hole Cut



7) Fitting the graphics card







8) I had to remove a small piece of plastic (centre of picture) fo allow the front cover to fit onto the shuttle. This piece was redundant and not required.



9) The two radiators and fans fitted to the case





10) Closer look at the tubing around the CPU block. You can just see the pump and reservoir on the background.



11) The finished article







12) Power supply and SSD fitted



13) Cable tie to secure card



14) All covered up !



15) With the power on !

[BrokenArrow]

Impressive.

[Sadasius]

Very nice! What are the temps like?

[sprayingmango]

LOL!

wow....that's nuts.

[Mabyboi]

Oustanding work. looks absolutely beautiful.

[LinusTech]

terrific build!

[ButtSprinkles]

Veeeeeeeery nice. I kinda want to do something like this now...


HOWEVER! Why do you have LED fans in a case with no windows?
I, personally, would just get the highest RPM 92mm gentle typhoons (or something like that), which would probably give better temps.
Just my 2 cents.

[Conumdrum]

Amazing amazing build. Tell us about general impressions on noise, use for HTPC use, can you add a remote panel to it? I hope someday to have any PC worth it's snuff for HTPC use for my main TV room with a NAS server.

Thanks for the great pics and build.

[ottoyu34]

Are you using EK X-res ? can't tell

Awesome build!

[SoulsCollective]

Epic.

As with the others, though, I'm scared to think what your temps must be like with an i7 920 and an HD5970 in the same loop in that tiny enclosed space.

[Hglazm]

I'm less interested in the temps as much as I am the power supply.

How the hell'd you find a power supply that size that could drive a 5970?

[ohms]

I'm less interested in the temps as much as I am the power supply.

How the hell'd you find a power supply that size that could drive a 5970?

What he said, lol! Those power supplies in the Shuttles are generally not very powerful.

[Hondacity]

Are you using EK X-res ? can't tell

Awesome build!

on first post it says xres....

Epic.

As with the others, though, I'm scared to think what your temps must be like with an i7 920 and an HD5970 in the same loop in that tiny enclosed space.

for normal use it should be that bad......it will sure beat stock cooling

I'm less interested in the temps as much as I am the power supply.

How the hell'd you find a power supply that size that could drive a 5970?

its the shuttle 500w....33A on the 12v rail...is kinda enough for most tasks...

What he said, lol! Those power supplies in the Shuttles are generally not very powerful.

its the shuttle 500w....33A on the 12v rail...is kinda enough for most tasks...


nice build gaz

[Alexxx650]

Cool

[Alexandr0s]

I love the fact that the card is so long it's sticking out through the back

[aka_GK]

omg it is tight

[zalbard]

This is pretty awesome, indeed.
Makes me wonder why I bothered building a PC with 4 times larger case since it is probably slower anyway.
So, temps?

[Necetra]

I really admire how you made the 5970 fit in a Shuttle chassis. That's just.. awesome.

[jaredpace]

That is a really cool case. Good job, man. How's the temperature, noise & performance? P23,500... Can you OC the i7 920 or 5970 on that 500Watt PSU?

[WaterFlex]

Good job and smart case

[gaz_az]

Busy at work today, so I didn't have time to reply. I appreciate all the +ve comments. However there is now a problem. I left things running for a few hours testing and developed a significant leak. The shuttle now won't start and I am worried I have fried the mother board. It is now in pieces and i am going to clean things up. Fingers crossed it still works

Now to answer some questions ....

Very nice! What are the temps like?

For such a tight space the temps I don't think are too bad. At idle the CPU is 35-40oC (overclocked to 4GHz), and the GPU is 30 to 35oC.

I ran LINX several times and the CPU temp was around 55 to 65oC with the cover off. With the cover on it went up to 69 to 73oC

I ran Furmark for around an hour and the GPU temps were around 59oC to 64oC with the cover on.

I haven't tried overclocking the GPU yet.

Veeeeeeeery nice. I kinda want to do something like this now...


HOWEVER! Why do you have LED fans in a case with no windows?
I, personally, would just get the highest RPM 92mm gentle typhoons (or something like that), which would probably give better temps.
Just my 2 cents.

Two reasons for the fans. Firstly I am thinking about cutting a hole for perspex on the top of the case. Secondly these were taken out of a Zalman case and relatively low noise with high flow rate of 52CFM

Amazing amazing build. Tell us about general impressions on noise, use for HTPC use, can you add a remote panel to it? I hope someday to have any PC worth it's snuff for HTPC use for my main TV room with a NAS server.

Thanks for the great pics and build.

In general it is very quiet. I have the fans set at 100% in the bios. The pump and the power supply are also quite quiet. Way overkill for a HPTC and in any case you can get completely slent options for that.

I'm less interested in the temps as much as I am the power supply.

How the hell'd you find a power supply that size that could drive a 5970?

Power supply is the standard shuttle 500W, as stated above it seems well able to cope with an overclocked core i7 and 5970. However if I overclock the GPU it might struggle.



Will keep you updated on the water leak. If the motherboard isn't dead I will need a new shuttle OH OH !

[Spork!]

Awesome work there, very tidy. Hope MB and everything is OK once it dries out...

Looking forwards to your next project, when you water-cool a Nokia...

[warriorpoet]

Awesome work there, very tidy. Hope MB and everything is OK once it dries out...

Looking forwards to your next project, when you water-cool a Nokia...

Don't tempt me! This e71x is DYING for a Swifty XT!

[JoeBar]

Very nice build!

[Main]

Shuttle is out of the question - it can't be overclocked in bios

On the other side - I have a Shuttle X27 shoebox that I use as htpc - it plays hd content no problem