New Mozart TX Dual Loop Build with Lots of Pics

[Sunayknits]

Hi everyone, good day and welcome to my build log.

I've found more answers and good info here than anywhere else on the 'net, so out of thanks to the great posters I'm going to document my latest build here on xtremesystems.

My build will be based on the Mozart TX case from Thermaltake and will have the following design goals:

a) clean clean clean - through an iterative process I intend to hide as much wiring as possible and generally keep everthing super-tidy and neat. I will cut wires to length once the build is finalized, sleeve everything, use hold-downs, etc.

b) no major metalwork - this will be a custom build using mostly off-the-shelf stuff and modding the case will only be done when it makes sense for fitment (for instance making the doors easily removeable or adding fillports to the top)

e) balance between silence and performance adjustable but leaning mostly toward performance as a dedicated gaming machine

f) able to run a 30" monitor at 2560x1600 res with current games at ~60fps or better (I like vsync!)

g) simple maintenance - fillports and drainports so I can flush it just like a car!

h) COMPLETELY 100% internal cooling - applies to clean clean clean above

i) visually interesting - have a couple features in mind to give it an 'oooh' factor for laypeople / bystanders

j) lights up like a freaking carnival at the touch of a button - I've long hated LED fans and cold cathodes, I mostly find them irritating and annoying but I guess in my old age I'm relenting - but I must be able to turn off all lights/leds/blinky stuff instantly so it doesn't blind me while trying to watch movies on the projector!

k) 100 percent stable in games - looking for a high overclock, but not at the expense of stability. This is meant to be a gaming monster, not a benchmark queen lol


So some equipment has arrived and I did a dry build just make sure no RMAs were necessary. I've played the entirety of HL2:EP2 on it and found that just because 3DMark06 runs all night long, doesn't mean you're stable After an hour of HL2:EP2 you will find that 'stable' overclock wasn't so stable after all ...

Here is a component list, most of it is either here or on its way:

Thermaltake MozartTx VE1000SWA Silver Aluminum Cube Tower Computer Case
Sunbeam RHK-S Rheobus 20W Fan Controller (Silver)
ASUS P5N32-E SLI Plus LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 650i SLI ATX Intel Motherboard
2x Foxconn FV-N88XMAD2-ONOC GeForce 8800GTX 768MB 384-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported OverClock Video Card - Retail
SILVERSTONE DA750 ATX12V / EPS12V 750W Power Supply 100 - 240 V
Intel Core 2 Duo E6420 Conroe 2.13GHz 4M shared L2 Cache LGA 775 Processor - Retail
Atech Flash Xm-4U 11-in-1 USB 2.0 Black & Silver Internal card reader - Retail
2x G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail
Western Digital Raptor WD1500ADFD 150GB 10,000 RPM 16MB Cache Serial ATA150 Hard Drive - OEM
(more drives later, probably 750GB Hitachis, nearly as fast as Raptors)
LITE-ON Black 20X DVD+R LH-20A1S
2x EK High Performance Full Coverage Nvidia GeForce 8800 GTX Series Water Block
Swiftech APOGEE GTX Extreme Performance Universal Water-block
2x Magicool Extreme Slim Profile 2X120mm Radiator - Black
120mm rad gaskets
2x Swiftech MCP350 12 VDC Pump
2x Alphacool Cape Bullseye PRO [BE-II] POM reservoir
2x Alphacool Cape Bullseye Bay Mount
2x Alphacool Melvin Pipe
2x EK Asus 1 Mosfet Water Block for ASUS Motherboards LGA 775
2x EK-NB/SB ASUS 1 Chipset Block - LGA 775 ASUS Motherboards
EK TIM Pads for FC8800 (for mosfets maybe)
8x Scythe S-FLEX SFF21F 120mm Case Fan - Retail (push-pull on both rads)
6x Scythe S-FLEX SFF21E 120mm Case Fan - Retail (probably replace the power supply fan with one too)
Arctic Silver Ceramique
Primoflex 3/8"ID x 1/2"OD
Koolance Reusable Hose Clamp [10mm, 3/8"]
Koolance Misc 3/8" fittings (compression, mostly)


And finally, the moment you've all been waiting for (thanks if you read this far lol), the PICS!:

(keep in mind this is a work in progress and will probably take me a fairly long time due to my limited schedule, I will update as I go)


Some parts

Case looks like a small beer fridge

It has wings!

Lots of room for junk

Look ma no hands!

Face off

Ridiculous room

Drive cage

Faceplate is thick, sturdy aluminum

Mobo stuff

Core 2 Duo is cheap performance!

Not even close to stable at factory-overclocked speeds (630/1000). Hopefully water will alleviate this, maybe even get higher

Simple no-frills, don't-care dry build (I don't wanna hear it!)

Nicest power supply I've seen yet (Silverstone DA750)

Next installment whenever I find some time to tinker

Oh btw, please comment on the size of these pictures? Originals are HUGE, is this big enough or too big? I'm doing the hosting so I can go crazy if you want ...

[Nate P.]

Perfect sized pics, and very nice build there! Dang, I would have sold you my P5N32-E SLI Plus for cheap... oh well, if you ever need a replacement, PM me!

[disruptfam]

nice... but where's the wc gear lol

[mildseven7]

My Rad design for your reference

PA120.3 + PA120.2 External

[disruptfam]

cool ! looks sweet!

[newls1]

love it. MOre pics

[ls206]

nice... but where's the wc gear lol

water!!

looking good

[ginnz]

Awsome!!!! ive been waiting for a Mozart TX build! good luck!

[shazza]

Nice case! Looking forward to more pics.

[NickS]

/Subscribed. Can't wait to see it done.

[IanY]

Nice mountain bike

[Nate P.]

Nice mountain bike

Expensive, yes, but it a cross-country bike... eww... Freeriding is where it's at!

[Daemonfly]

I'll be doing a very similar build. Already got the case, stock components, and some of the WC gear, just ordered the rest.

I have an idea for a custom solution for 2x 2x120mm rad mounting though. I'll have to wait & see how badly I'd have to hack up the upper rear 2x2 fan area before I decide if I'll have to mod it or not.

I'll have to keep an eye on your build.

[mildseven7]

Great project and Welcome,

I've got that case and I run a 30in at 2560X1600. But, I couldn't get a build in it that met those same requirements so I had to move to another case.

To get a hi end system water cooled and keep everything clean and internal will be quite the under taking, so gl to you and keep the pics coming. I couldn't do it so I'm very interested in your build progess and pics.

andyc

You tried to do 3 loops?

I was thinking going SLI,
PA120.3/ 2xGPU (External)
PA120.2/CPU (External)
Adding PA120.1/ Chipsets,Mosfet,Ram,HDs to the Harddisk area, since all my disks will go the the left compartment, i dont need the HD case.

SO i want to ask, is it worth it to go SLI? Big difference?
Now im going single on maximus board and mostly online FPS games in 30in LCD

TKS``

[Sunayknits]

Hehe, thanks for the positive vibe everyone. I'm pretty stoked on getting it together too! I just started a new job tho so things are gonna be slow. It will get done ... just be patient

As far as gaming goes, SLI is absolutely required for a 30" monitor. The native res of 2560x1600 means you will be GPU-limited if you don't go SLI. At lower resolutions you really don't need it (yet) for good framerates in modern games, but at that high res you'll be lucky to get ~30fps in most games with a single card. Keep in mind that I'm talking about maxing all the settings cause that's what I consider true gaming. You could get away with a single GTX if you were willing to crank settings down a notch or two ... that's what I'm doing with my current in-use system and it runs most stuff ok. Just not fantastic.

With 8800gtx SLI and this system on air, I can play COD 4 with everything, I mean EVERYTHING maxed out on my HP 30", and get a minimum of ~50fps. Most of the time it's in the hundreds, however I like to use vsync so 60fps is happyland for me. With water I'm hoping to get a minimum of 60fps in everything since I should be able to overclock it significantly higher. In retrospect I probably should have gone with the Ultras instead of GTXs since their pricing is not as ridiculous anymore. Oh well it's an easy swap


My bike is a GIANT NRS-C1, with a carbon frame it's super light and has enough travel for my limited riding. I'm no pro lol so mad travel would just make me work harder. I ride mostly x-country in the mountains nearby, but it's too damn cold now so it will sit inside for a while and I'll get fatter


I can't imagine how you couldn't fit even the most extreme build into this case, there is just so much ridiculous room in there! Oh well I hope what I do gives you some ideas so you can try it again.

As far as mounting rads, after tons of online research I was unable to find out exactly what the spacing is for the holes on the back. So I just decided to buy the g0ddamn thing and find out!

The spacing is a square, 240x240mm. In other words, you can stick 4 120mm fans up there and they will all be touching with no space in between. This of course limits rad selection tremendously, as most rads are > 120mm wide. I found the Magicool Extreme Slim Profile rad at Performance-Pcs and I think it will do the trick since it's exactly 120mm wide. We'll see, it should be here next week!

Anyhow I will have more pics soon, I have just completed modding the Sunbeam Rheobus into the 7" drive bay. Needed the room down below (only 5 bays are exposed) plus it just looks a whole lot cleaner.

More soon, please be patient

[Garrett]

Looks cool, never noticed that case before...
Oh don't think Crysis will run @ 60 fps or more with ALL settings maxed and very high
It tends to be VERY powerhungry

[Nate P.]

Yeah, I have a Specialized Demo 7 (bike). Awesome bike, I can hit some pretty big drops on it (5-6ft. range). I also race downhill, and that's pretty fun also.

[dengyong]

Cut the back of the case, make an aluminum plate to mount two pa120s side by side and then pop rivet the plate to the case with the rads inside.

[dengyong]

No but I'll take some later today. I have 2 gtx240s in mine I wish I had pa120.2s instead, but if I did the fans would have to mount outside the case due to the tc rads being thicker.

[Scubar]

Im so tempted to get one of these Cases for an Ultimate Air cooling solution with loads of space. I would have to spray the case black though and get the version without the window as i really dont like silver cases or cases with windows.

[dengyong]

Mine is black with no windows but they all have the same front.

[Scubar]

Yea i was just going to buy it and then respray it black, i still might just get one at the end of the month because i have a couple hundred £ spare and have always looked at buying that case purely because there is so much you can do with it.

[Nate P.]

Im so tempted to get one of these Cases for an Ultimate Air cooling solution with loads of space. I would have to spray the case black though and get the version without the window as i really dont like silver cases or cases with windows.

Just get a MM.

[dengyong]

got any pics of that or a build log, be nice to see.

andyc

Here's a few pics. (I live in a dust factory)

I cut this with a jig saw. It's kinda sloppy but I never look at this side.





There's another 50z in the bottom of the 5.25 drive bays.
It's one big loop. Pump/8800gtx/rad/cpu/pump/rad/and back to the bottom pump with a T just before each pump for fill, drain and air removal.
The rads I have require to much airflow so I use the noisy fans.
PA120.2s are the way to go, with quiet fans mounted outside the case.

[Scubar]

Not keen on Mountain Mod cases, All of them are cubes which i dont really like the look of.