Sorry I couldn't think of a witty name.
Well this all started a month or so back. I had a friend give me a call and wanted me to goto the show at the local auditorium. You know those events you hear on the radio"
"SALE SALE SALE, JVC 1000 watt sub woofers just 5 dollars FIVE DOLLARS"
etc, etc. Basically a orgy of liquidation goods. I never went to one so I said what the hell. I am not going to even go into the spectacle.
So I am walking around having a good chuckle when I look on one table and there are these three boxes there. The top one had a sticker that said "Thermochill PA 120.3"
"You got to be kidding me", so I ask the guy if I can have a look. Bottom two boxes say the same. I pull the first one out and it is brand new. "How do you know it's brand new, you have never owned a TC rad", you would ask..... if you knew I had not owned one.
Well from reading what you cats say the paint comes off if you blow on it hard. This one was perfect. Not a scratch or bent fin. I ask the guy what there for (Playing dumb), he says "No idea". He says 15$ each. I asked him how much of a deal for all three. 30$. Sold.
So I get home and call me mom and tell her sorry, I forgot to not judge a book by it's cover. I'm thinking they prob have leaks or something. But three for 30$ what the hell. I read one time there was a guy who can fix them if it is beyond a simple solder job.
Leak tested them for 30 mins each no probs. Guess I won the WC lottery.
Ordered an Ascension case (I just like MM a lot, I think there pretty sharp cases). Was told it would be the end of May until I would get it. Got an e mail last Monday saying it was shipped. So here we go.
Hardware:
(2) EVGA 512-P3 Nvidia 9800GTX
Enermax | EGX1000EWL 1000W
MCP355 Pump
(2) Coolermaster 120mm fan (Don't flame yet)
(2) SUNBEAM RHK-EX-BA Fan Controller
(11) YATE LOON 120mm Case Fan - D12SH-124B
(2) YATE LOON 120mm Case Fan - D12SH-12
(9) Scythe "ULTRA KAZE" 120mm (Med)
(2) XSPC - Laing DDC Top
(15 more feet) Tygon R-3603 1/2" ID 3/4"
(2) Custom 9800GTX Cooling Kit by iandh
(1) EK-MultiOption 4 Port RES 400
And some dye, MM fan grills, wire, sleeving, bunch of odds and ends.
To go with my current:
AMD 6000+
Asus M2N-SLI Deluxe
4 Gigs Patriot DDR2-800
Soundblaster XF-I Gamerz
WD150 Raptor
WD 320
WD 500
MCP355 pump with Petra top
EK 400 Res
D-tek Fusion
(2) MCW60's
Parts:
I am going to install the thrid TC rad even though I am not using it yet. Would like to get a third loop for NB / SB / mosfets. However being an AMD fan, easier said then done. I am going to wait for a new board to come out. Then will work on getting the blocks. Or I may have to give into the dark side and go back to Intel.
Loop will be 1 rad on the CPU, second rad on the two GPU. I know, overkill, but 3 TC's for 30 bucks, why not.
Picked up a aircraft style rocker switch from Radio Shack. Going to hook up my UV cold cathode lights. I actually picked up two and was going to hook up the LED's to one. But thinking about all the extra wiringdecided I will save that for a rainy day (Or when I lose my mind).
I like the LED fans. I know it's taboo to most here. However I did not want my living room to glow like a rave party. The RAD's are on a push pull. All the fans on the outside of the case are black and the inner fans are LED's. I think it will look good, my room won't glow (as much), and more importantly functional.
Case frame was easy to assemble. Then I started on the wiring / sleeving. I quickly blew threw 15 feet of sleeving and 40 feet of wiring. Almost out, had to order more.
So I am now looking at my PSU and thinking of the wiring I have to do. So I did this instead.
Any comments, advice is very welcome. Will be tearing this comp down soon so I will update when I am finished most likely.
As always thanks a million for all the advice. Wish me luck!
Best wishes
Chris
UPDATE 5/6/08
Finished sleeving the PSU... I hope I never have to do that again.
Update. 6/4/08
Ok it's been a while, however I ran into a few (hundred) snags.
I got the build done, here was (note was) the finally.
My first thought was:
and
Two things:
1: Didn't like the look. Was brilliant in my head, but oh well. Next time I change up the system I will replace it.
2: It took 16 feet of tubing to run both loops.
I was shocked at how much space I didn't have. All three rads, push and pull took up a ton of room. I spent a while trying to figure out where everything would go. When I found the best (Or only in most cases) places to mount everything, it took more tubing then I would want to run.
Other big problem in the pumps were higher then the res's. (Love the ek 400's, however a complete PITA). Took forever to just fill the system. So I am done and thinking "I hope I do not have to do that again soon!"
Two days later I get these chunks of god only knows what threw out the CPU loop. Closer inspection reveals the hose going from the rad to the res in covered with it. (And I did use PT Nuke)
So I take the whole loop apart, cleaned the loop again (I flushed the rad with disitiled water for an hour before using it the first time).
Few days later, the CPU pump dies.
Soooo I figured lady luck took a vacation and murphy law moved in. I put it away for a while.
Now I ordered two new res's, new hoses (No more UV additives for me), and a bunch of odds and ends. I need it to function better, look better, and above all perform better.
I picked up some of the new Primochill Pro LRT. I hear a lot of second hand "That stuffs good". I'll let you know.
As soon as it's done... again.. will post it up.
Wish me luck![]()
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