Project Blueboy - Lian Li V2000

[JeffyB]

This is my first go at water cooling so go easy on me

This started with me wanting a new case as i was getting fed up with the limitations of my old case but rapidly grew into a much bigger project. After looking at many builds I picked up a second hand Lian Li V2000 that had already been powdercoated. It's a huge case full of potential, perfect for what i wanted to do. I quickly rehoused my components and was very happy with the case.

Current spec
Intel i7 920 d0
Asus P6T Deluxe v2
6gb G skill Pi Silver
2x Asus 5770
256gb Kingston ssd snvp325
1.5tb Samsung eco green
Samsung SH-B083L/RSBP
Corsair hx620
Titan Fenrir
Dell 2407 ao4



I wanted to have a virtually silent system while still maintaining a good overclock. Having read about as much as i think my brain could take about watercooling I eventually came up with these parts and took the plunge. I saved some money and picked the cpu block, pump and res up from another forum

Heatkiller 3.0 cu
d5 vario
hwlabs sr-1 420
ek multi 250
4xTFC ½id ¾od 45 rotary
8xTFC ½id ¾od compression fittings
3m ½ id ¾ od Primochill LRT blue
3xYate Loon D14SL-124UB
4xYate Loon D12SL-124UB
Scythe Kaze Master
Silver kill coil
Distilled water

and soon a big box arrived


I didn't have alot of time on my first night so i worked on converting the front drive bays to take my hard drives so the lower compartment would be free for the rad, pump and psu.

Lian LI ssd mount

kaze master fitted and hooked up to some exhaust fans

The primochill hose has a fantastic colour

hose, fans and cables under uv. I love blue if you hadn't noticed


I started to familiarise myself with the components, was really nice to actually learn about something new after years of pc components. The sr1 is extremely well made and has a deeper shroud on the side opposite to the inlets.

mocked up with some fans and fittings (fans would be on the other side)

140mm and 120mm fan comparrison


Propperly mocked up the rad

Rad looked like it was sitting too low for my cutout

I put a couple of 25mm thick fans under the rad and that lined it up perfectly, will need some extruded steel/aluminium for this.


On Sunday evening i had my first free evening and set out to get the plumbing done. The cpu block and fittings were reasuringly heavy.

Mobo stripped down and block fitted.

Fitted the res, leaving enough room for cards much longer than my 5770's

Bolted the rad mount down in its tempary position.

The rad took 8 rinses before the water was clear, this was the first.


So got it all in, was not as tricky as i thought. Slow and steady is the way and take plenty of breaks.

d5 vario

Leak testing


Had to see it ll lit up







Not completely finished but close. I still need to raise the rad, make a new psu plate and mesh the rad area but its done leak testing and i think i have done alright with my first loop

Also going to mod the led fans and add a switch to turn the led's off when i don't want them on. With the fans turned down on the controller the leds dim as well which i hadn't realised would happen but i quite like.

I've got a 5870 coming to replace my 5770's, think its pointless watercooling such cool and quiet cards but i'd like to free up the top slots. Will more than like get the ek-fc5870 acetal and nickel for it and add it to the loop.





Hope you liked my first watercooled build, i know it won't be my last

[dreamaxx]

So got it all in, was not as tricky as i thought. Slow and steady is the way and take plenty of breaks.

Just like losing your virginity!!

Looks good, I will be doing a V2000 build soonish too

[Philwong]

How about putting your GPUs on water?

Phil

[JeffyB]

I have a 5870 coming tomorrow that im going to add to the loop, will use an Ek fc5870 acetal and nickel

[Philwong]

I have a 5870 coming tomorrow that im going to add to the loop, will use an Ek fc5870 acetal and nickel

Nice! Watch your VRM temp closely, it can go quite high without a good contact.

Phil

[h20xide]

Just like losing your virginity!!

Looks good, I will be doing a V2000 build soonish too

Best call Ive heard dreamaxx make
Looking good mate, LED fans not my cuppa though

[JeffyB]

Nice! Watch your VRM temp closely, it can go quite high without a good contact.Phil

Thanks it's info like this that will really help me

Looking good mate, LED fans not my cuppa though

I'm going to mod the led fans so i can switch the led's off

[JeffyB]

My 5870 turned up, had forgotten quite how big they are.




Have decided on the the Ek fc5870 acetal and nickel for it.

[mpower1001]

Did you cut the side panel yourself?

[JeffyB]

The case came with the side panels cut, i bought it from another forum member here in the uk. Fitted the ek gpu block, was a bit fiddly especially getting the plastic off of the thermal pads.

I have a nickel backplate coming for it

After i got the ek gpu block i had a change of heart and decidided i really wanted the ek supreme full nickel. It really is a beautiful block and you can fit 3/4od compressions on it no problems

Base is immaculate.

The retetion bracket was not as simple as the hk and sticks up more but i dont care the block is awesome.

[JeffyB]

Have been a busy bee, the backplate is really nice and fitted easily. It is so much more rigid than the stock ati one. Added a fair bit of weight to an already hefty card. Picture has a bit of aftershot because i left the lights on, its actually full nickel.

Shows fingerprints so easily, time to don the latex gloves!

Still deciding on how to route one of my tubes but this is the basic route. I may add the other rotary to the cpu block.

Close up

Bleading and leak testing next.

[mpower1001]

Those EK nickel blocks look awesome, I really like your build...coming along nicely

[JeffyB]

Thanks, i'm really pleased with how it's gone so far being my first water loop.

[JeffyB]

Not quite finished but couldn't resist some more pictures

[JeffyB]

Bit of an update, i got the fan hdd cage and some bezels to tidy up the front of the case
Single bay bezels

Hard drive cage and bezel with fan

back

front removed to get to the stock fan

Fan removed

Blue fan fitted

Lian Li sata 4 way sata cable

Heres the hard drive caddys, they are really simple and sit on rubber grommets to reduce noise and vibration. They also have holes pre drilled for ssd's so no need for any convertors.

Flip the hinged latch up

and fit hard drive, simples

Hard drive cabling

Didn't take too long to get it all back together

I may alter the spacing of the bay fan yet, possibly a single bezel either side of the fan

Just need my mesh for the rad cut out and to make my psu plate

[JeffyB]

Got the time to do some dark shots, love doing these

[h20xide]

Why so much airflow if your GPU and CPU are underwater? Should get rid of the case fans IMO and just leave the rad fans

HDDs don't really need air cooling

[JeffyB]

I bought the case from another forum member who had a tripple in the roof. I didn't want to have my rad there so i put fans in to fill the gap, they run at 500rpm so are inaudible but just keep the rest of the pc (mobo) nice and cool. I wanted to add the front fan but it was out of stock so for a few pounds more i got the hdd cage version, which has quietened my hard drives more than the metal brackets thanks to the grommits on the cages. its also more compact than using the brackets allowing me more drives to be used in the bays.

[Movieman]

Very nicely done!

[George_o/c]

Dude, well done! Especially since this is your first effort!

[Oli4v]

Now fix the psu plate and you're done.

Oh and are all of the 45° rotaries really necessairy ?


but overal al very well executed build

[JeffyB]

Hopefully meshing the rad cutout this week and should have time to fabricate the psu plate at work.

As for the rotaries, 3/4od compressions don't fit on an ek fc5870 or the res without them, the clearance is too small. I added them to the cpu block as they helped routing the tubing overall.

Thanks for your kind comments, i'm really pleased with the build

[h20xide]

As for the rotaries, 3/4od compressions don't fit on an ek fc5870

[Johnny87au]

Looking good mate, nice work!

[JeffyB]

Put that block on the card itself and the pcb will be in the way of the compressions on that side of the block.