PROJECT: MM Pinnacle 300 (previously Ugly Duckling)

[Kibbler]

CPU/chipset loop. Tubing spring necessary to prevent kinking.


Koolance TMS200 + expansion wiring. Plugged in are both coolant temp sensors (1 per loop), both pumps, and the front fans. I think having the heatshrink partially overlapping the connector works really well: It's stiff and gives a more natural bend to the wiring.


Here's the GPU loop going into the top rad through that aluminum bracket, which leaves enough clearance for HDDs and PSU. You can also see the shortened 3-pin connectors on the fans, and same for the front fans. I crimped up some daisy-chain wiring which you'll see later. The green and orange lines look like they're touching, but they're not.


Some cable management ...there are a total of 9 mounting points for P-clips.


The whole shebang! You can see that daisy-chain fan wiring at the front, should come in handy if I ever have to replace a fan.


That's all for now. I'm very excited to be in the last few stages of this project...needless to say it's dragged on far too long

[SNiiPE_DoGG]

One of the first to do a legitimately good wiring job in a pinnacle (well, you havent done it yet, but I expect nothing less )

those drain ports do look really sick in the bottom there

[MomijiTMO]

Very nice!

Why does your green tubing change colour?

[Kibbler]

Why does your green tubing change colour?

Oh...that's funny I didn't notice that. I assume it's from the lighting but nonetheless I'll check it out later. Thanks.

[MomijiTMO]

Yeah probably lol. Looks pretty cool though

Oh you need to add a lot more things because that case if fricken enormous.

[jpm804]

Kibbler - Question on the Koolance TMS-200, did you created that barcket so it is able to occupy a expansion or does it come like that?

Also great work on the tubing and wiring ... very clean

[ILikeCosmosS]

Kibbler thats awesome

dont you have to drag the case to drain the res ?
after looking at your res configuration i have idea of my own to make do with a overly stuffed cosmos s
just how much did you save on koolance fittings ?

[Kibbler]

Kibbler - Question on the Koolance TMS-200, did you created that barcket so it is able to occupy a expansion or does it come like that?

Also great work on the tubing and wiring ... very clean

Thanks man. The TMS-200 comes with the bracket, thank goodness.

Kibbler thats awesome

dont you have to drag the case to drain the res ?
after looking at your res configuration i have idea of my own to make do with a overly stuffed cosmos s
just how much did you save on koolance fittings ?

I'm planning to replace the acrylic feet with some castors, but I haven't found any that I like. Mountainmods has castors on their website but shipping cost is ridiculous so forget that.

As for any savings on Koolance fittings....let's just say any savings I would have enjoyed is more than made up for by extras of everything else I bought over the months...

[shazza]

Very clean setup, Kibbler the Nibbler ! Please keep the updates coming.

[Kibbler]

Very clean setup, Kibbler the Nibbler ! Please keep the updates coming.

Thanks shazza. Working on sleeving the ATX 24pin now...then it's time to zip this baby up!

PS Word of caution nibblers do not work on 2mm aluminum. not nearly enough bite.

PPS This is the best-est tool I've recently purchased. Custom wiring would be impossible without it...granted I'm still using a small nail clipper to strip the ends...


PPPS It looks like a T-Rex.

[bianco]

Thanks shazza. Working on sleeving the ATX 24pin now...then it's time to zip this baby up!

PS Word of caution nibblers do not work on 2mm aluminum. not nearly enough bite.

PPS This is the best-est tool I've recently purchased. Custom wiring would be impossible without it...granted I'm still using a small nail clipper to strip the ends...


PPPS It looks like a T-Rex.

looking good bro.
your motherboard looks like an matx in that case! that's a lot of room to work on. very nice.

btw, the crimper that you bought is from ppc? you didn't get it locally? also, what size of wires that you use for your atx/pcies? thanks kib.

[Ashraf]

Very interesting. Kibbler, I am loving the drain system. Excellent job.

[Kibbler]

bianco: Yeah I got it from PPCs, tagged along with other stuff in an order. I'm sure it's available locally, but the laziness is entirely my fault.

PCI-E is 18awg. ATX 24pin and 8pin are 16awg. Fan wiring is 22awg, and power-reset switches are wired with 24awg (not yet installed). Pump wiring is also 22awg, I figure if it comes with that stock then it shouldn't be a problem.

[SNiiPE_DoGG]

Hey Kibbler, I got that tool in the mail today you'll see pics of what I use it for in my log really soon

[Kibbler]

Very interesting. Kibbler, I am loving the drain system. Excellent job.

Thanks Ashraf I appreciate it . I may actually fine tune the drain setup a bit, change a few fittings here and there, but that right there is basically it.

The need for castors or better feet had been brought to my attention. Time to have a look around...

[bianco]

bianco: Yeah I got it from PPCs, tagged along with other stuff in an order. I'm sure it's available locally, but the laziness is entirely my fault.

PCI-E is 18awg. ATX 24pin and 8pin are 16awg. Fan wiring is 22awg, and power-reset switches are wired with 24awg (not yet installed). Pump wiring is also 22awg, I figure if it comes with that stock then it shouldn't be a problem.

thanks a lot bro; great info.
i'd probably try to find it locally first... if not, then i'll take the easier path.

[xaxis]

Very, very, clean build!

[Kibbler]

Wheels!


Finally got the correct length res tubes. Thanks to EK for sorting me out.


One lonely SATA. Wait what's that up there?


A manifold! Well, temporary placeholders anyway. I'm still waiting for 3 specific fittings to arrive. I didn't like the way it looked running tubing straight through, so I decided to make the bends with fittings instead.


The face of the beast.


Closeup of the drain setup. I swapped in BP rotary 45s to make sure the valves can be tightened properly AND face the right direction.


Anther look at the wheels and the drain outlets on the belly there.


Another shot to wrap it up for today.


Sleeved PCI-E. The secret to cheaping out and not using MDPC-X? Crimp your own custom cabling with black wires.


Sleeving is all fun and games until you realize you're out. ATX 8pin is finished. ATX 24pin only 9 out of 24 done. You can see the problem with Techflex there. One of these days I'll probably cave and buy the MDPC pack. Sigh...

[Kibbler]

A couple'la small updates...

1) As expected I am re-doing the fan wiring yet again. Last week I predicted that I wouldn't be happy with a daisy chain but did it anyway just to see how it would look. Me no likey . Time to crimp up some more extensions and use some more p-clips.


These suckers are bloody invaluable when it comes to custom wiring. These and that T-rex crimper.

2) I find Koolance o-rings are just a tad too small. Red is bling and makes my pants fit funny but it's terribly easy to overtighten on compression fittings and, come time to undo them, end up unscrewing the whole fitting instead. For the most fitting-heavy areas (the drain system, top res inlet and outlet, top-center manifold) I replaced them with slightly fatter Bitspower o-rings. They tighten down a lot more securely.

3) I was going to show off the fill-line setup after it was finished but over time I'm having some doubts about it's impact on thermal performance.

Here, let me show you it.


Single line from fillport followed by a Y-splitter.

For aesthetics sake I would fill-bleed-fill until both loops are fully bled and the coolant level is above the Y-split. That's to avoid having different coolant levels in each res, which would look kinda dumb.

Problem is...obviously there would be coolant exchange between the two loops. But given how small the area of interchange i.e. essentially the tubing ID, I figured it would not have a huge impact on CPU/GPU loop temps. Certainly shouldn't be as terrible as sharing a res...would it?

Appreciate a bit of advice here: Would this be an acceptable setup, or am I defeating the purpose of dual loops? Thanks.

[dreamaxx]

If I were you I wouldn't have the T, and just fill each one separately. Then you can get rid of that bit of tubing and put two little stop fittings at the top of each res. And have two proper dual loops (although they probably won't share fluid that much).

[xaxis]

I love this build.... and for some reason I can't help but imagine driving it around like an RC car.

[Dangals]

Love that this build is going again!!

I would not have the fill line there permanently as I feel it would add too much clutter - plus I am not a big fan of it being shared between the two loops. I mean why go to all the trouble of two seperate loops only to have them connected at the res? Perhaps a quick disconnect type fitting on your bracket that is attached to the rad as well as one for each res for quick and easy filling - which would also give you to flexibility of only filling one loop at a time option as well. my

[Kibbler]

If I were you I wouldn't have the T, and just fill each one separately. Then you can get rid of that bit of tubing and put two little stop fittings at the top of each res. And have two proper dual loops (although they probably won't share fluid that much).

That's a good idea. Usually I tend towards permanence but your suggestion would definitely look cleaner. Thanks for that.

Any other advice regarding whether or not having a shared fill line would seriously hinder my temps?

I love this build.... and for some reason I can't help but imagine driving it around like an RC car.

All I would need are some servos...DC motor...i/o board. Sit on top and drive via USB wheel or netbook + VPN

[Kibbler]

Love that this build is going again!!

I would not have the fill line there permanently as I feel it would add too much clutter - plus I am not a big fan of it being shared between the two loops. I mean why go to all the trouble of two seperate loops only to have them connected at the res? Perhaps a quick disconnect type fitting on your bracket that is attached to the rad as well as one for each res for quick and easy filling - which would also give you to flexibility of only filling one loop at a time option as well. my

Thanks Dangals, your suggestion sorta echoes dreamaxx so I'm inclined to agree. There's definitely room for improvement in tube routing and I will put some effort towards that. Any other suggestions would likewise be appreciated.

For cryin' out loud this case is bigger than TJ-07s, but in that case the bottom rad chamber is the bomb diggity when it comes to clean builds.

[dingdong555]

Top job!