The Raven 2 case replaced my HAF 932 and was meant to be case for air cooled components, however I sold the 5770's I had in crossfire to go with one GTX 470 and this was seriously noisy so decided to go back to water.
The Raven 2 might be a fantastic case for air cooling, but it has not been ideal as a water cooling platform.
I will be posting initial setup including photos and components chosen...
Components that I want to water cool are overclocked i920 at 4.00ghz with 1.35Vcore and ultimately a pair of GTX 470's in SLI but for now one running at 850x1000 at 1.087vcore.
Original components included:
Koolance VID 470
EK Supreme HF
HW Labs GT Stealth Xflow 360
MCP-350
XSPC Dual bay res for DDC
3/8 tubing
3x180mm low rpm Silverstone case fans
OK, so I made a number of mistakes with my initial choices....
1, Case fans although big rotated at 800rpm and were not pushing a lot of air through 360 rad in bottom of case.
2, Rad is single pass and high fpi, initially chosen due to barb position to make routing tubes easier.
3, Dual Bay res for DDC was nice idea but did not fit properly and noise from contact between res and case was horrible.
4, Pump bit weak compared to others.
First thing to go was the Dual Bay res for DDC (horrible product), nice idea, horrible result. I replaced this with XSPC res top, (excellent product solved noise issue instantly as well as increasing performance of mcp350 to that of the mcp355 with stock top)....
Secondly, 180mm case fans were removed, useless for WC and I dropped the rad lower in the case and sat 3x120mm 1200rpm Scythe Slipstreams on top pulling in cooler air from below the case.
HAF 932 air cooled build with 5870...
Then...
Raven 2 air cooled build with 2 x 5770's in crossfire.
Then...
last upgrade before water cooling, went back to Mugen 2 cooler from CM V6 and replaced the crossfired 5770's with one GTX 470....
Last edited by Neutronman; 08-09-2010 at 08:23 AM.
First round of water cooling components:
Naked EVGA GTX 470
GTX 470 with Koolance VID 470
First Raven 2 Water cooled build:
and
and finally...
This was build version 1 that you see in the above photos..... Not quite but almost a total disaster......
Results were extremely disappointing, this was not my first water cooled build but the last water cooled project of mine was completed in 2004 (quite a few changes since then).........
So I had to revise the build.
Version 2 changes:
Throw away the XSPC dual bay res for ddc (noisy and did not fit well in Raven 2 drive cage) and replace it with XSPC restop for ddc.
Remove stock 180mm case fans and replace them with 1200 rpm Slipstream Fans in push....
Results:
No noise from pump and res, but more noise than I expected from the 1200rpm Slipstream fans and no improvement in performance......
So Version 3 included 2000 rpm CM R4 fans in push and performance improved at the expense of noise, so the HW Labs 360 Xflow (single pass) rad was replaced with the lower fpi Swiftech MCR 360 with the Slipstream 1200 fans in pull.
Immediate improvement of temps at load and idle, but I realized that the Slipstreams are not the best fans for radiators......
This brings me to version 4 of my new Raven 2 build (hopefully the last revision).....
Version 4 changes:
Scythe Gentle Typhoon 1850 rpm fans all round. Fans will be set as 'pull' on MCP 360 at bottom of case with 3x25mm shrouds (old fans). I am also adding an XSPC RX 120 rad at the top with 2 x GT 1850 fans in push pull.
Everything will be on a single loop and will for now cool the overclocked i920 and single overclocked GTX 470.
I will be purchasing another GTX 470 to use in sli, this is why I invested in the extra 120mm rad for the top of the case.
I believe that the 360mm and 120mm rads should be capable of cooling the sli gtx470 and the i920 at stock and perhaps overclocked.....
I will be posting photos of Version 4 at the weekend when I have time to get the new Rad installed and the loop flushed out properly.....
In the meantime I am all ears if you have suggestions on a version 5?
So I spend a frustrating weekend getting everything installed.
The XSPC 120mm rad was too big to get installed at the top of the case, so the dremel came out and the case was 'adjusted' to fit the XSPC, with the GT 1850 added the overall width made routing tube to the cpu difficult, so I had to be creative and place the GT in the space between the case and the case cover, I needed to adjust the plastic case cover to get the fan to fit but this was easy enough. The GT's were mounted on the Swiftech mcr360 at the bottom, but I decided to do without the shrouds as space is at a premium and this would bring the fans closer to the GTX 470 than I wanted.
With the rads in place I turned my attention to the pump and restop. This had been sitting in the drive cage but with the new rad in place I needed a more permanent home for this so I used the dremel and cut away the bottom of the drive cage as well as the fan filter that was not being used at the bottom of the case and dropped the pump and restop in to this newly created space comfortably. This made routing the 5/8 tubing easier with less likelyhood of kinking.....
As far as temperatures are concerned with ambient of 27C (warm here in Vegas currently) my GTX 470 was idling at 36C (850x1000) and the CPU (i920 @ 3.6ghz currently) was average 39C, at full load the GPU was at 59C (Furmark 30 mins) and the cpu was at average 58C (OCCT 30mins).......
I believe these to be decent temperatures, I have plans to add another GTX 470 in a few weeks and I believe that this setup will be sufficient to run SLI GTX (at stock or overclocked with no vcore increases) and the i920@3.6ghz (no vcore increase required for this overclock).
I will post some new photos in a few minutes.
Last edited by Neutronman; 08-16-2010 at 07:17 AM.
Open case, you can see the pump dropped down to floor of case and GT above the XSPC 120 rad...
Routing to and from pump.
Case closed and pc up and running......
Those are cold cathodes in there, right? Try using an LED strip instead... you might be surprised by the color clarity you get!
Signatures make my posts look huge... but I'm not humble enough to completely remove my signature, so I kept this note explaining it.
Yes, just one cold cathode at the back, I could try a LED sometime but am not too worried about the lighting atm....Originally Posted by ScottALot
Thanks for the information though....
Very nice clean job. I like this case.
rig ::: i5 2500K :: GTX780 :: 250GB + 128GB 840 PRO :: Gigabyte Z77 mATX :: 4GB Ballistix :: Hazro 27" :::
input devices ::: Topre Realforce 45g TKL :: QFR w/browns :: Zowie EC2 Evo :::
modding ::: ?PHINIX CUBE? ::: "PHINIX NANO TOWER" ::: "PHINIX AURORA" ::: "PHINIX CHIMERA" :::
star citizen ::: ARBITER: Origin Jumpworks 325A LTI
Thanks, originally I picked up this case for air cooling only, but then when I bought the GTX 470 I realized that I needed to go back to water, but I still wanted to keep the case. It worked out well actually, better than I thought.....
I have a very similar build on a Fortress 2 case, and I think I also went through the same troubles as Neutronman. I used a slim (3cm) 140.3 radiator on the bottom with three 14cm Noctua fans on pull. Had to use a slim low-efficiency radiator to leave room for a long graphics card...
The blocks I have are CPU, full cover GPU and full cover MB, meaning (I guess) a fairly restrictive loop. I am using the lower powered DDC to keep things quiet, which means that I a flow rate of 2.2lpm, which I guess is kind of low. My idle deltas are decent and the setup is very quiet (temp controlled fans), so goal accomplished there, but when I crank up the CPU and GPU, the cooling does not keep up even with fans at 1200rpm.
So as to not hijack your thread:
How large of a difference do you think the single radiator at the top makes? I think I could do the same in my rig.
How did you mount the bottom rad on the fan brackets of the Raven? I had to dremel an aluminium plate with 18cm hole spacing to fit the fan brackets and 14cm for the rad.
Your cable management is superior to my cable management.
Not bad footman considering the fact this case is pretty far from being ideal for w/c. Good job.
2600k @ 5.0Ghz 1.54V, Giga Z68, Zotac GTX680 AMP!, Patriot 1066Mhz 8GB RAM, Custom water, Silverstone 1000W, HAF932
Very simple and clean setup!
I also have a FT-02 that I am trying to watercool but I have not get to a point where I am happy with it yet. I have many times thought about ditching it and get a bigger case but something attractive about the FT that keeps me from getting rid of it. Perhaps it is the thick u-shape aluminum chassis that makes it so attractive. Nonetheless, I just put in a 140mm SR-1 just to cool the CPU for now. I was surprised to see your temp being a little high even with a triple. My AMD 955 (no overclock) idles around 33C with just one radiator so I would expect my CPU temp to drop quite a bit when I install a triple. In fact, I just place an order for a XSPC triple so I will be figuring out to how place it. At this point, I am planning on installing 2 triples, one inside and one outside on the back with a custom mount. I hope to get it going soon! Cheers!
If you want decent airflow on the internal triple, you will probably have to place it horizontally on the bottom and consider replacing the stock 18cm fans with fans matching your rads. The nice thing about this mount is that it keeps the "air goes up" design of the case and also that you can probably keep the stock dust filters. The limiting factor in this setup is probably the length of your graphics card, and replacing the 18cm fans will also give a few mm extra.
Also, if you cut out the HDD bays, you could probably fit a quad 120 radiator.
Yes, I am planning on installing a triple at the bottom first. I will need to have the rad in hand before I decide how to mount it precicely. At this point if I go this round, I will just rib out the whole plastic filter housing of the two 180mm fans down to the bare metal floor and mount the rad/fans right on the floor so this will save me at least an inch or so of height, especially with the thicker XSPC rad. On the hand, I am also seeing another option to mount a Swift Tech 480 rad at the bottom if I remove all 3 180mm fans and their housing. Based on my measurement you can mount a Swift Tech 480 rad without removing the hard drive cage. The vertical space between the bare metal floor to the bottom of the HD cage is around 2.5", and with the ST 480 rad being 1.3" thick plus another 1" for the fans it should fit under there just fine. Keep in mind that I have FT 2 not the Raven 2. Like I said, I will need to have the rad in hand before deciding how to proceed modding it. Man now it is running fine (for two weeks now) with a single 140mm rad, I am a little hesitated to tear it down for the next major step to mod it further. Sorry Neutronman I hope we are not hijacking your Worklog thread here. Thanks!
Nice mod there...great stuff. Just wanted to check if you just removed the HDD bays, or was some cutting required?
Some cutting required, but the drive cage slides in and out, looks like a box, so I slid it out first and trimmed off the frame at the bottom....
Thanks, I think that the extra 120 rad at the top helps only with the heat from the second GTX 470. I put this in to help control heat from 2 GTX 470's and the cpu. I was not seeing much difference in temps when I added the extra 120 BEFORE I added the extra video card, so I assume that I was scrubbing off as much heat as possible with the triple, just needed some extra insurance for the second vid card....I have a very similar build on a Fortress 2 case, and I think I also went through the same troubles as Neutronman. I used a slim (3cm) 140.3 radiator on the bottom with three 14cm Noctua fans on pull. Had to use a slim low-efficiency radiator to leave room for a long graphics card...
The blocks I have are CPU, full cover GPU and full cover MB, meaning (I guess) a fairly restrictive loop. I am using the lower powered DDC to keep things quiet, which means that I a flow rate of 2.2lpm, which I guess is kind of low. My idle deltas are decent and the setup is very quiet (temp controlled fans), so goal accomplished there, but when I crank up the CPU and GPU, the cooling does not keep up even with fans at 1200rpm.
So as to not hijack your thread:
How large of a difference do you think the single radiator at the top makes? I think I could do the same in my rig.
How did you mount the bottom rad on the fan brackets of the Raven? I had to dremel an aluminium plate with 18cm hole spacing to fit the fan brackets and 14cm for the rad.
Your cable management is superior to my cable management.
Thanks Quad, I assume the same Quad from Futuremark???
Appreciate the feedback...
The i920's are hot chips especially with 1.35-1.4vcore.... Personally I think that I am quite lucky to have full load temps around 61-63C...
I tried all of these options, best performance is rad lowered tight against dust filers with fans on top pulling air from underneath....
Yes you can fit a quad if you cut out the drive bay, but this kind of limits you with regards to rest of the wc equipment and pc components....
Not worries about a little hijacking here and there, been accused of it myself <grin>..... Take a look at the fan position in some of my earlier versions compared to fan position in latest version.... I dropped the rad and fans right down and can still use the dust filters.....Yes, I am planning on installing a triple at the bottom first. I will need to have the rad in hand before I decide how to mount it precicely. At this point if I go this round, I will just rib out the whole plastic filter housing of the two 180mm fans down to the bare metal floor and mount the rad/fans right on the floor so this will save me at least an inch or so of height, especially with the thicker XSPC rad. On the hand, I am also seeing another option to mount a Swift Tech 480 rad at the bottom if I remove all 3 180mm fans and their housing. Based on my measurement you can mount a Swift Tech 480 rad without removing the hard drive cage. The vertical space between the bare metal floor to the bottom of the HD cage is around 2.5", and with the ST 480 rad being 1.3" thick plus another 1" for the fans it should fit under there just fine. Keep in mind that I have FT 2 not the Raven 2. Like I said, I will need to have the rad in hand before deciding how to proceed modding it. Man now it is running fine (for two weeks now) with a single 140mm rad, I am a little hesitated to tear it down for the next major step to mod it further. Sorry Neutronman I hope we are not hijacking your Worklog thread here. Thanks!
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