Official Water Cooling Thread of the Stock Maximus SE ROG NB Club:

[carmatic]

Are you saying you would like a aftermarket NB block with 1/2" fittings, or want to keep the stock ROG cooling for the SB'es heat pipe?

You are looking for the Y fitting to run your MOSFET blocks in parallel correct...

yes, 1/2" fitting on one more block in my system to run in series will be good, and as the fusion block is supposed to come with that size i'm happy... otherwise, 1/2" aftermarket block to give better nb cooling at the sacrifice of sb cooling is ok by me too... but best would be the heatpipe + aftermarket block performance , connected by 1/2" fittings, thats why i was thinking about opening up the fusion block and carving patterns at the bottom of the block to create turbulence

for the mosfets , i can either try to aircool it heavily like since they are next to the ram anyway so an additional 80mm or 120mm fan should take care of them, or if i get the mips blocks in a set of the mosfets, the nb and sb, then i shall have to find a pair of the magical y splitters which lets me branch a 3/8 or 1/4 line (whatever mips uses) from my main 1/2 loop...

hey malik thats pretty cool looking, especially the ornament of your name... it looks like aluminum tho, im not sure how people will take to that

::edit:: and oh yeah, the amakia guys arent replying to me... theyre probably going to me right now, at the very least they could freekin respond to my email about my refund?first they sent me the wrong board and now theyre running away with my money... ive told them that the box is still intact and its all pristine and stuff... all i can think of is at them ...

[Malik]

... hey malik thats pretty cool looking, especially the ornament of your name... it looks like aluminum tho, im not sure how people will take to that ...

It's 2mm aluminium. For me it's ok, enough strong for backplate function.

[Talonman]

Looks custom all the way!! Nice job.

How much would the Talonman set go for!!

Actually I need 2 mosfet, and 1 NB.

[carmatic]

coool... thats one purdy backplate you got there... are the rest of them backplates as well, not the actual sinks? you can never be too sure about just how much pressure can cause the board to bow out of shape... when i installed my new cpu cooler my evga 680i mobo, it bowed so much that the mosfets actually pulled away from the heatsink and you could see where the white termal goop is spread and half of it went up with the heatsink and the other half stayed with the mosfets, hopefully with a solid mosfet backplate this issue shouldnt occur... im really digging that keychain thing you did tho, its much cooler than just a sticker or something that comes with stuff from companies like zalman or something... or is that actually a backplate as well for the section between the northbridge and the mosfets? the way this is going we'll need a transparent motherboard tray!

aaarrrggghhh

we reserve the right to make a handling and restocking charge of 25% on goods which are returned if they are ordered in error or no longer required

its NOT FAIR!!!!!! it wasnt my fault that THEY TRICKED ME into buying the non-SE board... even right now they still have not corrected their maximus formula pages
http://www.amakia.com/customer/estor...dproduct=86851
http://www.amakia.com/customer/estor...dproduct=91452
the one out of stock is SE, the one in stock isnt! and that's what i bought... someone has got to stop them from ripping off more people like me and running away with 25% of the price of a maximus formula each time someone returns a board! and the tax alone was 17.5% so thats like £20 gone for good already

::edit:: YYYEEESSSS!!!!

Product:1x Maximus Formula Special Edition ATX LGA775 Core 2 Duo Quad Core
X38 1333FSB 8Gb DDR2 SATA II Raid 6 Port 2xPCI-E x16 Crossfire Dual
GigaBit LAN 2x1394a Audio

Please accept our apology for misleading 2 similar products information, return request has been authorised, please read the following instruction below:

basically i have 2 weeks to go through like, some kind of collection arrangement, i gotta call a company up and give them a ref number or something

[Malik]

Looks custom all the way!! Nice job.

How much would the Talonman set go for!!

Actually I need 2 mosfet, and 1 NB.

My stuff cost me - 40 $

[hiwa]

start

[hartigan]

Malik, your new gear looks great!! Very cool.

Are those mosfet backplates being sold? If so, where and how could I pick up a pair?

Any information pointing me in the right direction would be appreciated!!

TIA

[Malik]

Malik, your new gear looks great!! Very cool.

Are those mosfet backplates being sold? If so, where and how could I pick up a pair?

Any information pointing me in the right direction would be appreciated!!

TIA

This custom backplates was made by my friend. So if You want i can ask him, can he make for You

[hartigan]

Malik,

Thank you for the quick response.

I noticed your are in Poland? (I think) I think the shipping over the pond to thte US may be cost prohibitive. I'd be VERY appreciative if I could get the drawings he used to machine them or the dimensions.

That way I could at least work with the correct dimensions when I was trying to grind down my own.

Thanks again for your response!!

[carmatic]

hey guys

anybody know who still sells the SE board in the UK? my new board arrived and its not the SE, even tho the website says it has the fusion block system ...
can anyone who has removed the fusion block from the mobo, but have not thrown it away, please post pics of it on the side? and see if its possible to open the block... i really want to see if its possible to make the fusion block more competitive with aftermarket blocks

or do you think that its just not worth it trying to refund the motherboards again and again, and just get a complete waterblock set to replace all the stock aircooling stuff on one of the maximus formula's i've got sitting in my house?

earlier i was thinking about giving up my search for a maximus SE, and buy a dfi UT x38 t2r mobo instead, after all its northbridge cooler comes 'pre-uninstalled' so thats one less step to watercooling it, its got more overclocking bios options, and the orange colour makes it go faster but i still kinda want a maximus because it has the LCD poster and colourful LEDs on the board... and its been around long enough to be easy to find, and for stuff like the aftermarket blocks to exist...

[initialised]

I got mine from Scan, looks like they only have the Extreme now so you'd need some DDR3.

I'm having trouble getting my E4500 stable at more than ~3.5GHz. I can get 3.7GHz (9x410MHz) to boot to windows, time to TEC it me thinks.

One thing that's bugging me is that Speedfan reports CPU temp as 10-15C lower than either core, more pressure needed on the block?

Will check and post idle/load temps later.

My cooling loop is unconventional:
3kl/h pump->22mm-4x10mm splitter
4 loops: CPU (NCW6000 NX), NB (Fusion), RAM (FlexXLC), GPU (DD Maze4) ideally 750l/h per loop->splitter->radiator

I'm thinking about losing the stock coolers, TECing the CPU (350W), NB (50W) and GPU (226W) but how to arrange the system if I add VRM coolers and an SB block?

[Talonman]

hey guys

anybody know who still sells the SE board in the UK? my new board arrived and its not the SE, even tho the website says it has the fusion block system ...
can anyone who has removed the fusion block from the mobo, but have not thrown it away, please post pics of it on the side? and see if its possible to open the block... i really want to see if its possible to make the fusion block more competitive with aftermarket blocks

or do you think that its just not worth it trying to refund the motherboards again and again, and just get a complete waterblock set to replace all the stock aircooling stuff on one of the maximus formula's i've got sitting in my house?

earlier i was thinking about giving up my search for a maximus SE, and buy a dfi UT x38 t2r mobo instead, after all its northbridge cooler comes 'pre-uninstalled' so thats one less step to watercooling it, its got more overclocking bios options, and the orange colour makes it go faster but i still kinda want a maximus because it has the LCD poster and colourful LEDs on the board... and its been around long enough to be easy to find, and for stuff like the aftermarket blocks to exist...

I would keep the board, and buy aftermarket blocks myself....

The stock NB block can't be improved to stay on par with the aftermarket blocks I don't think...

just figured id point this out, look at how little contact area the TIM is making to the stock NB heatpipe cooler

I had to pri the heat pipe off of the south bridge so i could remove the north bridge. its very easy to pop off i might add.

[Scooby]

Don't know if you guys know of this....

Dtek FuZion Intel 775 Pro-Mount set...


The FuZion Pro-Mount set allows fitment to 775 boards with minimal bracket intrusion and utilizes a metal backplate to prevent motherboard warpage due to mounting pressures.

Found them here at jab-tech.com.

[Talonman]

Thanks for the post Scooby.

[Talonman]

We found that water cooling has to be used with air cooling for good results, kinda defeats the object a little I guess..

There are 2 other issues too,

1) The Fusion block is spot epoxied to the NB heatsink, there is poor contact between the 2 surfaces, no thermal paste is used by Asus to fill the gaps this bonding process leaves behind. Our block came off, and we reattached it using thermal paste and epoxy. Thermal paste in the middle, with a good quality epoxy glue around the perimeter of the block to hold it in place, it is now rock solid.

2) The supplied thermal pad interface between the chipset IHS and the heatsink often make poor contact, we had around 60% contact, with no contact in the middle. Replaced with good TIM.

Loaded temps during Prime95 Torture Temp @ 460 FSB were around 39 degrees @1.65VNB and 2x 120mm fans. Before the above 'mods', loaded temps were around 49 degrees.

Review should be up on Anandtech in couple of days..

regards
Raja

Raju mentioned the heat pipes contact issue too, good to see the picture posted though Exahertz.

raju's and Bingo13's Maximus SE review:

http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=3149

[Malik]

Just finish:

[Nate P.]

Nice! Did you get bigger tubing since the previous pictures?

[Talonman]

Good job man! It just looks like a runner...

[Malik]

Nice! Did you get bigger tubing since the previous pictures?

Yes, now i have Tygon 3603 3/8" ID (1/2" OD) Clear Tubing ( previos rev. - Innovatek 8/10 ).

Good job man! It just looks like a runner...

Thanks T

Here more pics: Malik Theme

[Exahertz]

Just finish:

How did you fill your loop, mine is set up almost like yours but i had a lot of troubble filling mine as i kept getting large air bubbles in it. do you have some pictures of your fill and drain ports?

[Malik]

I fill my loop up through EK-Multioption RES. So i don't have any problems with air bubbles

[neo_rtr]

Gents, some questions
1) Does anyone know how many litels of liquid i need to fill up a PA120.3?
2) taking the fact that i will use the onboard heatpipe. how did you do with leak testing the system? was everytning build outside the case and them put into the case? several posts in the forum mention that all testing has been done outside the case. so i get that. but having the pa120.3 mounted at the bottom of the stacker 832 and the mobo on the backplate the only thing i can think of is by putting the chassi on the side, so if any leaks, the cooling drops to the floor, keep the cpu block not installed and the pump-reservoir on the side.

Still waiting for my kit to arrive so i a can start building

[Croak in BC]

You can leak test in the case with everything assembled, no problem.

The important part is to not have power to the motherboard, just jumper the PSU to get power to the pump.

Water/coolant alone won't damage the motherboard or cards, as long as there's no power, you just clean it off, let it dry, and it'll be fine.

[initialised]

Gents, some questions
1) Does anyone know how many litels of liquid i need to fill up a PA120.3?
2) taking the fact that i will use the onboard heatpipe. how did you do with leak testing the system? was everytning build outside the case and them put into the case? several posts in the forum mention that all testing has been done outside the case. so i get that. but having the pa120.3 mounted at the bottom of the stacker 832 and the mobo on the backplate the only thing i can think of is by putting the chassi on the side, so if any leaks, the cooling drops to the floor, keep the cpu block not installed and the pump-reservoir on the side.

Still waiting for my kit to arrive so i a can start building

A PA120.3 is about 1/4 the size of my radiator (which holds a litre) so you should be OK with a 500ml bottle.

A quick way to do a leak-test is to disconnect a convenient pipe and with a finger over one pipe, suck the air from the system (clean the system first to avoid toxins). If it can sustain this partial vacuum for a minute or so your system should be OK. To be on the safe side also do a longer test (overnight) with the PSU jacked (or the pump running off the mains) and wrap tissue around every union. Using a dye helps identify leaks in case the coolant dries. The tissue should act as a buffer and running the test with the PC on its side will help stop coolant coming into contact with the components. Even if it does, so long as the PC is not powered up you should be OK unless you have a high glycol content in the system as this can attack some metals and resins.

After this it's time for a live stress test as so far the only load the system has had to deal with is the pump heat, ideally use a temperature and pressure meters during this stage and run the pump(s) off a seperate PSU. Boot your system and let it idle for a while then stress every water cooled component in the system simultaneously for up to half an hour. Do this by running a gaming benchmark that is not CPU limited and Orthos (small FFTs for CPU only, blend if you have watercooled RAM), if you have watercooled HDDs stress these with a defrag or large file transfers. Be ready to pull the plug watch the pressure and temps rise as the system heats up an the coolant expands. Know your limits (i.e. what your tubing and blocks are rated/tested to) and don't exceed them. If it does (if shouldn't without TEC) or if you see a sudden pressure loss shut of the PC immediately, not the pump as this will make back-pressure. Wait for the temperature to settle then switch off your radiator fans and repeat but don't let your system components exceed their max operating temperature, probably safest to keep CPUs & GPUs under 80C and RAM, NB, SB, MB and HDD under 45C and don't let the water temperature get over 70C with PVC. If your pressure did get too high consider replacing the cooling component(s) where this was exceeded, typically the hose or unions will fail first. Alternatively increase the volume of air in the reservoir to absorb the pressure. If you want to go for total overkill testing overclock to your highest 1-hour Orthos-stable settings and repeat. Then take it a stage further with TEC. PVC hose is good for 60C at 9bar so stay below these unless you've got stronger tubing.

The most common cause of a leak is a pinched hose at a union where a jubilee clip has been used and the hose ID is similar or bigger than the barbs OD or the clip is too big. I've had these (outside the case fortunately) a failed reservoir and a failed chipset block. I don't use a reservoir now, just a T-line.

Exahertz: to avoid air bubbles pump against gravity and have an air trap at the highest point in the system. A pair of Y-splitters and a T-line to your fill port or reservoir on the highest branch works well. Failing this use a reservoir like the EK Multi Option as this can be set up to act as a header. Ideally the top of this should be the highest point in the system and should have a small amount of air at the top to absorb pressure as the coolant expands under load. This is similar to how it is done in cars and is know as a deairation system, only they call it the header tank.

[Renegade5399]

Just finish:

Now that is teh sex! Very clean looking. Nice work.

I am going to have to snap some pics here once I get my Dtek. I have changed quite a bit and am now getting 28-29°C load temps on the NB.