Gaming Monster Extreme

[Randy Jeppesen]

Gaming Monster Extreme

This is my first full liquid cooled build. I've decided to share my build experience with everyone. Your feedback is appreciated!
I'm going to log parts and pieces when I receive them.

Received Parts and Pieces:
6 Aquastream XT Temperature Sensors (53067)
4 3TB Seagate HDD
Rampage IV Extreme Mobo
64GB Corsair Vengeance Memory
I7-3930K LGA2011
Corsair AX1200 PSU
2 Asus GeForce GTX 680 DirectCU II 4GB GDDRS
2 Crucial M4 256GB SSD
1 Asus Blueray Drive
1 Windows 8 64bit PRO
EK ASUS Rampage IV Extreme Cooling Block Kit - Nickel CSQ (back ordered)
EK Supremacy Universal Nickel CSQ
2 EK GeForce 680 Nickel CSQ (Black back plates back ordered)
2 EK Corsair Dominator Nickel CSQ with 8 ram modules. (4 ram modules back ordered)
12' of Tygon R-3603 7/16" - 5/8" tubing
20 EK G1/4 Nickel Compression fittings
8 EK CSQ G1/4 90 degrees Nickel fittings
8 EK CSQ G1/4 45 degrees Nickel fittings
8 EK G1/4 Black Compression fittings
8 EK CSQ G1/4 Black 90 degrees fittings
2 EK 360 XTX Radiators
EK X3 Reservoir replacement tube 250
EK D5 X-RES Top 140
EK X3 Reservoir Replacement Top (don't need this, the X-Res came with one)
EK FC Bridge Dual Parallel 3-Slot CSQ SLI Connection
Swiftech MCP655-PWM-Drive 12v Water Pump
2 EK Water Block 680 GTX Replacement thermal pad sets (I may use thermal compound instead)
EK Thermal Pad Sheet 150mm x 150mm x .5mm (for the mobo water blocks)
13 Phobya 120mm x 25mm G-Silent 12 1500rpm Fan -Red LED with ModRight Silencers
2 Phobya G1/4 inline temp sensor Coupler (bought this and then read that aquaero only works correctly with their sensors)
AquaComputer g1/4 Flow Meter Sensor Block with connection cable
Thermal paste fingers (finger condoms, why not!)
Arctic Silver 5 Compound
6 Bitfenix Alchemy Multisleeve 3-pin to 3 x 3-pin Y Cable Splitters
50 Heavy Duty Rubber Grommets
Danger Den Premium Tube Cutter
AquaComputer Aquaero 5 XT USB Fan Controller with waterblock
Silverstone USB 3.0 / HD Audio Bay/w 5.25 to 3.5 bay converter.
3 Fesser One Red UV reactive Fluid bottles.
2 BPU - 340 Black Sata back plane from iStarusa.
Mountain Mods Ascension Case
3 HDMI to DVI Interconnect by Sonicwave
EK-FB KIT RE4 CSQ
2 EK-FC680 GTX Backplate - Black CSQ
4 360mm Radiator Gaskets
Miscellaneous cable\tube management ties

____________________________________

4/24/13
Today I received 6 temperature sensors. The male end where the grommet fits is much larger than I thought. I had planned to fit two sensors on the in and out of the cpu water block, two sensors on the in and out of the gpu water block and two sensors on the in and out of the rads. I think the sensors on the rad will be fine and maybe even on the cpu block. But I don't think the gpu block will be large enough to cover the gasket. When I get the water blocks I'll see if they fit.

*Edit* I might only use one or two sensors. Not only are the wires ugly but the actual fluid temp changes very little from component to component. So there is really only need for one sensor. I might put one before the rad and one after just to see a slight temp change but one is more than enough. *sigh... live and learn. Anyone need some temp sensors?




I received the Rampage IV Extreme MOBO today. It looks awesome! The only thing that really concerns me at this point is the ram block next to the first PCI 16 slot. It looks way to close and I'm not sure my ram water block is going to fit along with the GPU backplate. We will see...







Ram came today! I bought 64GB of Corsair Vengeance because I want to max out the memory on the mobo, overclock with ram water blocks and see if I can do some fun things with fast access. I also chose Vengeance because the stats are just as fast as the Dominator GT but half the price. Reviews seem strong.




Processor arrived. I chose the i7-3930K. I just could not justify spending an additional $600 for the Extreme addition.




Corsair AX1200 PSU! Totally modular -Awesome. I probably only need about 800 watts but better safe than sorry. I'll probably end up replacing all the cables which is why a totally modular PSU rocks.




2 Asus GeForce GTX 680 DirectCU II 4GB GDDRS! I'm going to water cool these and run them in SLI. I am really looking forward to pushing these. Can't wait to run three monitors with Nvidia 3D Vision.






Pictures to follow (just as soon as I figure out how to re-size my pics with picasa)!

Sound Setup:



Current rig:

[Randy Jeppesen]

I can't seem to upload pictures. I've resized and cropped them with google picasa 3. They are jpg files that are less than 200k. It uploads them and then puts a red ! next to the file. It says, "This is not a valid image file"

Slightly frustrating. Maybe I'll look for another photo editor.

[Randy Jeppesen]

I created an album on my google+ account (free) and added the image url's to my original post. Still don't know how to upload images to this forum. /Shrug

[Randy Jeppesen]

I received:

1 Asus Blueray drive
2 Crucial 256GB SSD's
1 Windows 8 64bit PRO

I'm going to mirror the SSD's for my OS. Still have not decided whether to use the mobo raid or win8 software raid. More research to be done...

[Randy Jeppesen]

Giant box from FrozenCPU today! It's going to take me a while to break everything down. Here are a couple of quick pictures:

[Randy Jeppesen]

I need 13 120mm fans for the Mountain Mods Ascension Case. I need another 6 fans mounted to the back of the rads. I need one internal fan blowing on the PowerAdjusts. AquaComputer will not build a waterblock for the PowerAdjusts so I'm going to face a 120mm fan at them to cool the heat sink. Here is how I plan to connect my fans:

Rad 1 Front (3 fans) -> 3 to one adapter -> Aquaero Fan Channel 1
Rad 1 Back (3 fans) -> 3 to one adapter -> Aquaero Fan Channel 2
Rad 2 Front (3 fans) -> 3 to one adapter -> Aquaero Fan Channel 3
** Aquareo Channel 4 reserved for my pwm pump.
Rad 2 Back (3 fans) -> 3 to one adapter -> PowerAdjust 2 Channel 5
Right back and top of case (4 fans) -> 3 to one adapter -> 2 to one adapter -> PowerAdjust 2 Channel 6
Left back and top of case and internal fan cooling the Poweradjusts (4 fans) -> 3 to one adapter -> 2 to one adapter ->PowerAdjust 2 Channel 7



Still waiting for case...

[Randy Jeppesen]

I worked on the ram modules today. There were a few challenges but I got through them. The first thing I noticed was that Frozen CPU sent only 2 sets of Ram Modules instead of 4. I sent them an email and hopefully it won't be a big deal for them to send the other two.

The Corsair Vengeance Heat Spreaders came off very easily without any tools (which was a relief). The next step (according to EK instructions was to trim the thermal pads and fit them to the memory IC chips. I went ahead and did this on the first one. It was time consuming and required a steady hand. For the other three, I just placed the entire strip on the modules which was much easier.





You have to be very careful to make sure the ram is perfectly centered when fitting it to the module. This is because all the ram screw holes must line up for the water block. I was able to center the ram to the module but here is where I ran into an issue. The screws are not long enough. Only 3/4 of the screw thread turns into the screw hole. The instructions say not to use excessive force else it may strip. What they should say is, "we were to lazy to send you the correct screws sooo just be super careful because your modules may fall apart." To solve the problem, I used a drill to tap the holes about 2mm.


This provided 3 threads which was enough to properly secure the modules together.

For the other three modules, I lined up the memory chips and placed thermal tape directly on the modules.

Finally I put the memory in the mobo and made sure all the screw holes lined up by mounting the water block.

I took the water tested sticker off with an exacto knife. It was very difficult. I did not want to scratch the surface so I had to take my time. The problem was the sticker would not pull off in one single effort. The material is crappy and it breaks apart.

When I am ready to mount water block, I'll probably stick the thermal tape directly to the block and then carefully place the block on the memory.

4 down, 4 to go!

Suggestions for EK:
1. Either tap the holes more or send longer screws.
2. Include longer strips of thermal tape.
3. Use different material for the water tested sticker. It does not pull off easily and it breaks apart.

[Randy Jeppesen]

Received 4 boxes today. But before I tear into them, I need to log what was in the big box last week:

EK ASUS Rampage IV Extreme Cooling Block Kit - Nickel CSQ (back ordered)
EK Supremacy Universal Nickel CSQ
2 EK GeForce 680 Nickel CSQ (Black back plates back ordered)
2 EK Corsair Dominator Nickel CSQ with 8 ram modules. (4 ram modules back ordered)
12' of Tygon R-3603 7/16" - 5/8" tubing
20 EK G1/4 Nickel Compression fittings
8 EK CSQ G1/4 90 degrees Nickel fittings
8 EK CSQ G1/4 45 degrees Nickel fittings
8 EK G1/4 Black Compression fittings
8 EK CSQ G1/4 Black 90 degrees fittings
2 EK 360 XTX Radiators
EK X3 Reservoir replacement tube 250
EK D5 X-RES Top 140
EK X3 Reservoir Replacement Top (don't need this, the X-Res came with one)
EK FC Bridge Dual Parallel 3-Slot CSQ SLI Connection
Swiftech MCP655-PWM-Drive 12v Water Pump
2 EK Water Block 680 GTX Replacement thermal pad sets (I may use thermal compound instead)
EK Thermal Pad Sheet 150mm x 150mm x .5mm (for the mobo water blocks)
13 Phobya 120mm x 25mm G-Silent 12 1500rpm Fan -Red LED with ModRight Silencers
2 Phobya G1/4 inline temp sensor Coupler (bought this and then read that aquaero only works correctly with their sensors)
AquaComputer g1/4 Flow Meter Sensor Block with connection cable
Thermal paste fingers (finger condoms, why not!)
Arctic Silver 5 Compound
6 Bitfenix Alchemy Multisleeve 3-pin to 3 x 3-pin Y Cable Splitters
50 Heavy Duty Rubber Grommets
Danger Den Premium Tube Cutter
AquaComputer Aquaero 5 XT USB Fan Controller with waterblock

I'll take pictures of this gear as I install them in the build. Now to unpack 4 more boxes!

[Randy Jeppesen]

Box # 1:

Silverstone USB 3.0 / HD Audio Bay/w 5.25 to 3.5 bay converter.

Box # 2:

3 Fesser One Red UV reactive Fluid bottles. After reading about the issues past issues with EK Nickel blocks, I've decided not to take a chance with Fesser One fluids. I've since ordered EK Red fluid.

Box # 3:

2 BPU - 340 Black Sata back plane from iStarusa. I may take one of these apart and see if I can't swap out the led's and the fan.

Box # 4:

Mountain Mods Ascension Case. It's here! I can finally start building.

[Conumdrum]

Distilled and a biocide, colored tubing for best long term usage. You have been warned.

[Buckeye]

I like that MC275 tube amplifier, I bet that has a very nice mellow warm sound to it

[madmaxx]

I like that MC275 tube amplifier, I bet that has a very nice mellow warm sound to it

Very musical!

[Furball Zen]

Not these colors obviously, but are you going to sleeve that PSU? If you dont want to tackle it, i offer fair sleeving services and only use high quality 550 paracord and mil-spec shrink tubing when needed.

[Randy Jeppesen]

The sound is incredible, especially with female vocals. I specifically designed my sound system with warm pure vocals in mind! The Benchmark Dac is a giant killer and makes an amazing headphone amp. When I don't want to bother my wife, I plug my Sennheiser 650's in and use a MXL ProCon mic for vent/mumble etc. That way I get killer sound when I game without having to use a crappy headset.

[Randy Jeppesen]

Not these colors obviously, but are you going to sleeve that PSU? If you dont want to tackle it, i offer fair sleeving services and only use high quality 550 paracord and mil-spec shrink tubing when needed.

Thanks for the offer but I bought Corsair's sleeved cables, replacing all the psu cables. I plan to sleeve all my other cables myself.

[Randy Jeppesen]

Speaking of Sleeving cables, I'm a little disappointed with the Phobya fan cables. No screws. I mean no screws at all! Ok whatever, I guess I'll order screws. No short disconnect. Instead they have a long cable that I have to try and hide. -weak sauce. Finally, the cable is white sleeved. What? I mean, if you are going to go to the trouble of sleeving the cable, why not make it black? I'm tempted to return the fans and buy noise blockers.

[Randy Jeppesen]

Received a couple of more boxes today!

3 HDMI to DVI Interconnect by Sonicwave. -> believe it or not, it is difficult to find DVI cables online these days. Don't thin Monster even makes them anymore.
EK-FB KIT RE4 CSQ -Yea!!
2 EK-FC680 GTX Backplate - Black CSQ
4 360mm Radiator Gaskets -> I ruled out shrouds after looking at MartinLabs testing. I got these gaskets because I think it will help with noise and increase air flow through the rad. I have no testing to back this theory
Miscellaneous cable\tube management ties

[Randy Jeppesen]

I built some of the case today. It's awesome! I love it. The finish is amazing and the modularity is really cool -> very easy to work with. It's easy to put together, even with the sub-par instructions. Hey Mountain Mods, maybe a close up on those pictures would be nice! Couple of annoying things:

1. I bought the black power/reset switches. They come with 5 prongs on the back with no instructions so I'm going to have to contact Mountain Mods and figure that out.
2. The LED lights are silver -does not go with case and Mountain Mods is out of stock of the black ones soooo that sucks. I ordered a couple of crome red led's. I think they will look cool. Will have to sleeve all cables here.
3. The mobo mount hole is not centered on the cpu. No big deal.
4. There is no bottom support for the psu. The psu is suspended 3/8 off the bottom of the case. The weight of the psu flexes the back plate of the case. If there was a support foot, that might solve that problem.

Having said all of that, I love this case. Crazy amount of room!

I also mounted the mobo waterblocks and the cpu water blocks. Before I mounted the cpu waterblock, I spent about 4 hours trying to figure out how to run the tubes. The waterblock inlet and outlets on this board is very very tight. I found one tube configuration that I liked but it was still very busy/bulky and it covered the mosfet waterblock. I even mounted the mobo in the case to visualize the inlet and outlet tube locations. Ultimately I gave up on mobo tubes -way to bulky. I ordered a bunch of bitspower crystalink fittings and I hope that I can line up all the heights. If I can get the fittings to work right, I think it will look very clean.

I did run into an issue mounting the cpu waterblock. The bracket was a bit to long and actually hit the mobo waterblock. These are all EK waterblocks so you would think that they tested them! Luckily I had a file and I filed down the edge of the bracket without issue.

I'm still waiting on 4 dim modules, so I can't mount the ram waterblocks yet.

I think these EK waterblocks look incredible. Enjoy these pictures:


lol. I just noticed the plastic wrap on the monitor covering the Dexter blood splatter wallpaper. -not intentional!

[shazza]

Nice build.

Wouldn't this fit better in the worklog section?

[Randy Jeppesen]

Nice build.

Wouldn't this fit better in the worklog section?

Yes it would. I would move it if I knew how.

[shazza]

Randy - I moved it for you. Also left a 24 hr redirect so anyone following along will make sure to find it.

(I've been on a leave of absence for a while, so didn't want to jump in and move your thread without your permission).

[Jakusonfire]

I have used the Phobya and Bitspower water sensors just fine with the Aquaero

They are all 10K Ohm

Also: The Stickers on the EK blocks are designed to break when removed, thats why they have cuts partially through them. They are an indicator of the block having been opened.

[andressergio]

congrats Randy thats an awesome rig !!!

[CrazyNutz]

Very nice build so far

Just a word of advice, never file metal in the same work space you handle boards in.

[Randy Jeppesen]

Sorry for not updating this log in a while. I have run into several issues.

1. I can't finish the mobo waterblock design until I receive the Ram Dim modules - Still waiting.
2. I had to order some special tools in order to cut some Crystal Link - Still waiting.
3. My GPU waterblocks do not fit my video cards. I should have pulled the cards apart before ordering the waterblocks but hind sight is 20/20 right? I thought ordering the EK-FC680 GTX would fit my 680 GTX, turns out I need the EK-FC670 GTX DCII for my GTX 680 DCII. Does not make much sense to me but oh well.
4. I can't mount my rads because I need longer screws. Between the gasket, fan silencer and the fan filter, a 30mm M3 screw is just not long enough. I ordered 35mm M3's. - Still waiting.
5. I can't finish mounting the Aquaero until I have the correct length data and power cables. Because I'm going to have to make most of my cables on account of the case being so large, I had to order a bunch of sleeving and crimping tools. I spent several days researching crimping and wire fabrication. It was even more of a task to find great tools for the job. The majority of the crimpers out there have no "bite". The ones that do are very expensive and difficult to find (just try searching the Molex website and surfing over 30k sku's). In the end I found a high quality crimper with the "bite" from a site in Germany. However, the site is only open during certain times. So I had to set an alarm and quickly place my order when the site opened. Crazy! But I am super glad that I did. Nils helped me out with some great products and provided a ton of information about how to properly make and sleeve cables. Sooo, I am still waiting for the gear that I ordered from him (could take several weeks).

Yea so this project is at a bit of a stand still at the moment while I wait for more gear to arrive. On another note, I think my other rig got jealous and decided to s**t the bed. My Thermaltake Bigwater 850 water pump decided to die. What a POS. I decided to just rip out all the watercooling and replace the CPU cooler with a massive Thermaltake fan that I happen to have. What's interesting is that my temps are lower with the fan.

While waiting, I thought of a really cool drainage system for my build. I ordered a few more fittings including a couple of quick disconnects. I think you're going to like it! Stay tuned.