Project Gemini Rebuild (SR-2)

[Biffa]

So, like many of my builds this one has a history

It has been a AMD XP1800, E6300, Q6600 B3, then a Q6600 G0 @3.4Ghz then lastly an i7 920 D0 @ 4.0Ghz

Cooling wise its been on air, H20-I20, H50, and then Custom water.

It was the first rig I ever watercooled, and doubles up as my VMWare server, running 3 hosts.

It also is a 24/7 Folding@home machine :o and at some state (probably at the E6300 stage) got named Gemini

Lets concentrate on the most recent spec, then go onto the build spec and progress from there

Pre-Upgrade spec:

Cpu: i7 920 @ 4.2Ghz
Mobo: Asus P6T X58
Ram: OCZ 13333 DDR3 Low Voltage 12GB (6x2GB)
Case: Lian-Li A16B
CPU Block: XSPC V3
Pump: EK 4.0
Rad: XSPC RS240
Res: EK Multires
Tubing/fittings: 8-10mm white tubing on compression fittings.

Threw the build together from spares (bought the pump) after an unsuccesful build with the H50 (too hot) and this is how it looked.



Sitting at around 70°C and pushing somewhere around 33K PPD on a bigadv 24/7 it was stable as a rock.

But I had a plan, I wanted to reduce the number of GPU's I was running yet not lose any output and save some money on the electric bills.

And then the hardware was released that would make Gemini live to its name....

The EVGA Classified SR-2 (Super Record 2)



With dual 1366 sockets for Xeon CPU's and Overclockable to boot the spec sheet read like a hardware nuts wet dream.

EVGA Classified SR-2 (Super Record 2)
Part Number	270-WS-W555-A1
CPU Support	Intel Socket 1366 (Xeon 5600/5500)
Chipset	Intel 5520
Memory Support	Dual or Triple Channel DDR3
SLI Support	2-way, 3-way, 4-way
SATA Header	8
SATA Type	2x600MB/sec / 6x300MB/sec
USB Ports	2x3.0 / 10x2.0
PCIE Slot	7 x PCIe x16/8
Integrated LAN	2 x 10/100/1000

It would be mine.. oh yes! :p

[Biffa]

So.. here we go

Rebuild Spec:

EVGA SR-2 Motherboard
Dual Xeon X5650
Dual EK Extreme Blocks
EK SR-2 Motherboard block
Thermochill PA120.4 Radiator
EK-Reservoir Combo DCP 2.2
Lian-Li PCP-80 Case




Someone obviously approves:


The case was a tricky one, it had to be big enough to take the crazy sized SR-2 Motherboard:


You need a case that can take the depth of the motherboard, currently there are only 2 or 3 stock cases that can do it, or you can get a custom MM mobo tray and hack it into a Corsair. The only other options are to buy a MountainMods case itself or a DangerDen Plexi case. Neither of which rock my world.

The PC-V2010 fits, but thats even more expensive, and not as good for watercooling I reckon.

Lucky the case isnt going to be on display anywhere as its an ugly mofo, this isn't going to be an elegant build, its going to be functional and I didn't want to spend much time modding this baby, I couldn't afford to spend too much time during the transplant of equipment to the new rig stage, as the VMWare images it hosts run some of my stuff that I don't want down for too long a time.

First thing you notice is how big the box for the Lian-Li PCP-80 is, and then you realize the size of the box for the SR-2!

Here it is compared to the box for the Asus P6T7-WS, itself no small potatoes in the Motherboard world and central to another build of mine.


On the flip side I was slightly dissapointed on the box size of the Xeon CPU's.. I mean they were so small I almost didn't notice them at the bottom of the box!
Compared to a standard i7-920 box or the beefy i7-970 box and you can feel short changed considering they cost the same as the 970


At this point I was almost ready to begin, but I was waiting for a few extra parts including the fittings, the res and tubing, so I threw the cpus in, jury rigged a loop with my old faithful XSPC 750 bayres and checked everything booted up.

Then it was time to start putting it all together

[xFEARx3]

Good luck with it. The case is just awesome, i have it with the UD9 and there is much space left

[Biffa]

Unpacking shots.

The SR-2, how well is this thing packed!


Nekkid in all its glory.. lots of warning stickers everywhere, nomnomnomnomnom

The mobo block:


Nice and shiny, then a trial placement to makes sure I bought the right part, and to see what it would look like

Lets fit that sucker!
Nice easy screws to undo, thats what I like to see.


Nekkid mobo:


My weapon of choice for cleaning computer parts:


Squeaky clean


Fitted.. *phew*

Which reminds me I hate the EK method on all their blocks of using plastic standoffs "stuck" with TIM. Its twice as bad with a block this size but I managed to fit it on the first try without losing a standoff.

[arkadur]

that looks great! what about GPU's?
i've sr-2 mobo on the way.. it really that big?!

good lock with your project.

[Crazy V]

Cant wait to see your outcome!!!

I must also agree, I also am not in favor of the way EK uses those plastic standoffs when so many others have them designed right in there blocks
Changing this would be a big improvement by EK IMO.

Subscribed

[zalbard]

Nice waterblock! Great choice of case, too!

Not too highjack your thread or anything, but... Could you measure the length of the case (PC-P80) without the door for me, please?



This is a slightly different case (a smaller version of yours), but the idea is the same.
Thanks in advance!

P.S. Good luck with your project!

[Biffa]

that looks great! what about GPU's?
i've sr-2 mobo on the way.. it really that big?!

good lock with your project.

No gpus, they just rob the bigadv of points. Also I was trying to move away from gpus because they eat too much electricity.

I've done a quad fermi build already, max I can get out of it with bigadv running on the i7-970 hex core is around 90-92K PPD but its pulling 1000+ Watts.

This rig will pull half the watts but deliver 150-160K PPD peak.

[Biffa]

Not too highjack your thread or anything, but... Could you measure the length of the case (PC-P80) without the door for me, please?

Will do tonight when I get home.

[Biffa]

Good luck with it. The case is just awesome, i have it with the UD9 and there is much space left

I wasn't such a big fan of the case before I got it, but its much nicer looking in the flesh than in pictures, its hard to explain.

Oh and space? You will laugh when you see how much space this board takes up in this case compared to the UD9

[Mydog]

I got the same case for one of my SR-2's so I know what it looks like, you'll have a tight fit with the 24-pin
Good luck with you build

[Biffa]

Fitting CPU Blocks

CPU Socket and close up of the PWM block.


I think we might be needing these soon! 24 threads of Dual Hex core cpu pr0n!


But first Houston we have a problem.

Xeon motherboard comes with special Xeon backplates designed for Xeon heatsinks. For our waterblocks we need to change them for 1366 ones.
These backplates are held on by the CPU socket surround, which has to be removed to change them. Nicely EVGA include the 1366 parts in the box

Original backplates:


Removing the socket bracket, and Nekkid socket!! You push on those screws and the backplate pops off.


Left one replaced with 1366 compatible backplate:


Fitting the EK Backplate:


Phew.. then rinse and repeat for the other one.


Nice finish on the EK Supreme HF blocks.. also managed a win in getting the newer design. And that puppy is FITTED! (Always remember to remove the protective plastic before bolting down!)

[Biffa]

Rads, Fans, Fittings and Fiddling

But first, ime to pause and appreciate the smorgasboard of water cooling goodness with a couple of my better shots

Its a damn tight fit sometimes between "arms" on the Supreme HF and the mobo block, so watch out for that.



Aha.. look what arrived, these might come in handy perhaps. I'm sticking to my favourite fitting/tubing size which is 3\8" ID x 5\8" OD (10-16mm).


Now Rinse that Rad! Till it comes out clean! (dilute distilled vinegar)


Then hot water, and a final rinse with distilled.


Its a PA of course so we need those 3/8" to 1/4" converters.. done! Add the fans and we are ready to find a place to fit it in the case.

[Biffa]

Was measuring up the mobo tray for some extra standoff holes and maybe a few cable routing holes last night.

The missing mobo standoff holes are marked in yellow. Now with this much mobo hanging off them I want as many as I can get!



I ended up drilling the holes with a dremel, then screwing the brass motherboard standoffs right into the hole, and they just self tapped in.

Right radiator next, its going in the front, this rig doesn't need a heap of hard drives as it reads the VMware images off an iSCSI lun.

Lian Li radiator mounts, customised for 140mm size rad (drill a few holes)


Getting rid of all the junk in the 5.25 drive bay areay meant removing a lot of screws, and they are always in hard to get at places.



Slid right in there no problems.

[Johnny87au]

Biffs quick question, How much room do you have when the front of the case closes? Can you remove those 3 fans on the front and replace them as PUSH? and mount 3 behind the rad to pull or not enough room ?

[Quagmire LXIX]

Impressive Biffa, that's a good size project. Anymore water and that cat is going to float away

[lowfat]

Does the EK SR-2 block still use those silly standoffs to mount? Looking to buy a block for one of my SR-2s possibily but do not want to deal with those things.

[Biffa]

Biffs quick question, How much room do you have when the front of the case closes? Can you remove those 3 fans on the front and replace them as PUSH? and mount 3 behind the rad to pull or not enough room ?

The case fans don't intrude into the case space so there is room to put more fans on the front of the rad if you need to.

The case fans as they are are set to pull air into the case and push it towards the radiator and then there are three fans on the back of the radiator pulling air through the rad into the case central.

Impressive Biffa, that's a good size project. Anymore water and that cat is going to float away

Thanks Its finished now just gotta get the rest of the pics up.

Does the EK SR-2 block still use those silly standoffs to mount? Looking to buy a block for one of my SR-2s possibily but do not want to deal with those things.

Yup, biggest downfall with all EK blocks IMHO is the "stick the plastic standoffs with TIM to the block" routine. Hate it myself and think its seriously Heath Robinson compared to the metal standoffs on other blocks.

[PiLsY]

Great job dude, really looking forward to finished pics .

[Johnny87au]

Thanks for the response biffa, Wouldnt it be better to push through on the front fans? Then again depends on ambient temps i guess..

[Wega52]

Really nice build. Wish I had the money to do a SR-2 build myself, but i dont think thats ever gonna happen

But it's nice to see others able to do it

[nolonger]

Subbed! I wanna see this completed!

[Torin3]

I didn't realize EK sold a complete set of blocks for the SR-2. I was wondering about the PWM blocks. Now I know what to track down.

Thanks!

[fatherTime27]

SR-2