Hey guys, I recently did a new system build - utilizing most of my components, but updating my water loop and putting it all into a new Raven RV02 case.
I thought I'd share with you some photos and commentary of the process. Hope you enjoy*
*Inspiration*
My system consists of the following:
Asus Rampage III Extreme
i7 930
3 x MSI GTX 580's
6GB G-Skill Trident
1200W Antec Truepower
4 x 1TB Cavier Black
1 x 120GB G-Skill Phoenix SSD
1 x Samsung Blu Ray
I had housed this tech inside a Cosmos 1000, which I purchased back at the end of 2007. It's served me pretty well, and I had made several modifications to the case. Here is a link to the first build I did with the case, when I was a complete beginner to watercooling. It was a messy build, but worked well: http://forums.overclockers.com.au/sh...d.php?t=656482
Anyway, the Cosmos 1000 saw many changes; moving from 3870's in Crossfire, to Quad SLI GTX295's, different CPU's, etc etc. The case isn't bad, but it had very bad airflow, which I had to augment in a few ways. I installed a Cosmos S side panel (with the 20cm fan) from my partner's old rig (he's upgraded to a LANBOY Air). This side fan did help my thirsty-for-air 3-way 580's ... but it was just more added noise. I had to use a 12cm fan on the end of the cards inside the case also ... they just needed so much air, and the Cosmos 1000 starved them.
I realised I had an itch to get a new case, about 6 months ago. It's a pretty common thing here on OCAU, heyI just wanted something new, and something that was a technological improvement on my current case. I looked far and wide, considered everything from the Antec 1200, to Lian Li high-end systems, to HAF X, to Bifenix blah blah.
In the end, I settled on a Silverstone Raven RV02-E. I liked the invert mount motherboard concept, and that all reviews I have looked at show it to be a great case for air cooling and noise levels. It was also a relatively nicely sized case, with enough room for my aforementioned hardware, yet not so huge to be a pain to move around.
PC case gear had the Silverstone Raven RV02 - Limited Edition White - in stock, and I liked the idea of a good-looking white case. I also ordered some new watercooling stuffs; from Radiical Computing (http://www.radiical.com.au/) - Les was very helpful and they had a nice filler-port system I wanted to try out.
At the risk of becoming a TLDR post, let's start with some pictures. I did this whole rebuild yesterday, starting mid afternoon and finishing about 3 or 4am ... I then spent a few hours gaming with my new rig
*Here are a few pics of the Cosmos 1000 getting stripped:*
*Bloodletting ... /sadface ....*
*Cosmos 1000 Stripped and the Usurper ... Raven ... in the background: *
*The fruits of my tech obsession ... limbo between systems on the kitchen bench:*
*Front and back of Raven RV02, just starting build:*
*HDD's, GFX, mobo, PSU, optical, etc etc all installed without TOO much trouble:*
*You will see, in this back image, that the CPU cutout on the Raven RV02 does NOT match the socket alignment on my Rampage III Extreme. And considering I'm using a custom backplate (my original D-Tek Fuzion which I'm re-using here didn't have one) I hope that I don't have any problems that require me getting the block mounts off again ... Next time I change my cooling block, I think I'll have to break out the dremel and extend the cutout to match the RIIIE, but yesterday, I couldn't bring myself to cut the case:*
*I used an XSPC RX120 (http://www.xspc.biz/rx120.php), a double-thick 120mm RAD. I figured it would be a beefy enough radiator to keep my CPU loop nice and cool, and I was *praying* my assumption that it would fit just below the 120mm exhaust fan on the RV02 proved correct.
THANKFULLY my assumption was correct, but if the radiator had been 1mm wider, it wouldn't have fit. It was tough to get it in there, but it nestles nicely up against the exhaust fan. Phew:*
*My Cosmos 1000 had a Laing D5, which proved to be a great pump. I re-used it in this build, but modified it by installing an EK-D5 TOP mod, with a Bitspower compression fitting for easy installation of the Radiical filler port system. I was also going to house this pump in the vacant 5 1/4 drive bays, but decided to sit it just down below the PSU, there was a ton of room and its base footprint didn't seem to block much airflow from the 180mm Silverstone Air Penetrator fans:*
*You can see here, where I am sitting the pump and filler port; pretty much right in front of the RAM slots on the RIIIE motherboard. I wasn't planning on this at all, until I got to the point of putting the loop together. I thought it would be good, it allows me easy access to fill or bleed the system, the 7/16" Tygon tube is nice and short and neat, and there didn't seem to be any constriction. Compared to my first watercooling effort, where I had metres of pipe going every which way - this seemed very clean and an obvious choice.
I didn't use ANY clamps, instead I just heated the end of the 7/16" Tygon with some hot water, then pushed it over the end of 1/2" barbs. The fit is good, no leaks on testing or use. This was great, especially on the CPU block, the Dtek Fuzion has barbs that fit very close together, it was very tough to get any sort of clamp around them in the past: *
*Filling the completed loop; using demineralized water with a few drops of blue UV-reactive dye. The filler-port is very easy to use, just funnel some liquid in, and run the pump intermittently off a separate PSU; that way you can safely fill the loop without running the D5 dry: *
*Kira, my Collie/Kelpie companion ... looks on:*
*I ran the loop for an hour or two, nothing that looked vaguely like a leak. Always a good thing when you're watercooling
*Here is a pic of just the pair of 10cm Ultra-violets running:*
*Another with both sets of lights running. I have switches installed so I can toggle any combination on or off:*
*Sexy psychedelic loop:*
*The completed case, plugged in to screens and working as intended. I have the top-cover back on in this photo, which hides all the DVI and USB cables - which protrude from the top of the case with this Silverstone design:*
*My messy desk, dominated by 3 x Dell u2711's. I'd like to have the case sitting on the desk, but there isn't enough room. Time to play a bit of Rift and then some BFBC2, before I goto bed ... 4 or 5am and I'm stuffed:*
*Final thoughts*
Everything works, and for the most part I didn't have too much trouble doing the rebuild. I'm happy with the case, it runs much quieter than the Cosmos 1000, even with the three Air-Penetrator 180mm fans on full. Right now I'm running them on low, with 700RPM, the case is barely audible.
The thermal design of the invert mount motherboard is great. All the hot air makes its way out the top, and if you take off the side panel, you notice right away that the hot air is directed up very well; there is hardly any heat bleed from the three GTX580's into the rest of the compartment. The design is for positive pressure, with more intake than exhaust. I congratulate Silverstone on a well thought out concept and delivery with this Raven RV02 case. I'm a happy camper
I'm running my old overclock, with a quieter system, in a more compact case that looks good!
I hope you guys enjoyed this thread
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This is a very tight fit indeed. Didnt know that a white edition of that case existed... Doesnt look bad at all.
Originally Posted by shazza
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