[Build Log] System Refresh with the New NZXT H440

[SimsReaper]

[EDIT] I have switched to scaled down versions of all the images. Hopefully this will cut down on load times and make everything more enjoyable and easier to follow!


Hello guys and girls,
So I have had a modding itch for a few months now, but have held off because I don't really need a system upgrade yet. This is not really an upgrade in the truest sense, but I will be moving to a 780 sli dual loop system. Today, I finally pulled the trigger and made the purchases on NCIX. Some of the items aren't in stock a.t.m., but I have lots of time.
Right now, I have bought a new case, 2 rads, and 2 reservoirs, and then the fans and tubing to go with them. I'm gonna tube that all up, make sure everything fits just right, mod the case where I have to, but stick with the original black/ red color scheme. Gonna make this look perfect with all sleeved wiring, all red led's and just take my time getting it ready before the system actually moves in.
Here's what I bought today.
The new NZXT H440 case. I have the original Phantom, and its been good to me, but this is just sic.

Here are the 2 radiators I'm gonna incorporate. 360 in push/pull in the front of the case, 240 in push in the top.

And I also picked up the 8 Gentle Typhoon Fans. I'll be removing the blades and painting them red/ black.

And last, but one of the best, the 2 reservoirs I picked up. Gonna need to figure out the best way to mount them.

 

[SimsReaper]

Ok, I will update this thread as I work on the project. This will be my second liquid cooling case, my first in my current build. I modded an NZXT phantom case to hold a 360 rad, and threw a window in the side. It went well, but I feel like I rushed it, and it isn't "perfect". This time I am getting the cooling loop and the case before anything else, so that I can size everything the way I want, and, if its possible, I may cut the top of the case so I can go Push/pull, and mod mesh around the extrusion needed to incorporate the additional fans. We'll see. Will update this in a week or 2 when I have the parts in and have a plan.

Oh, here is a pic of my current system, my first water job/ case mod.

This will be what I transfer over to the new case.

Maximus V Formula
i5-2500K @ 4.5GHz
GTX 780
Custom H20 Loop using Black Ice Stealth 360 Rad, XPSC Razor blocks, Swiftech Maelstrom Dual Bay Res, and an Alphacool VPP655 Variable Speed Pump
XFX 1250W Power supply

 

[Tweakin]

I just pre-ordered one also from the egg...I'm looking forward to seeing what you do...that red and black is wicked...

 

[damstr]

I want a red and black one really bad. Don't think they will ship soon enough. I also pre ordered one off Amazon.

 

[Tweakin]

The pic of your top 240 looks like a 45mm rad...I'm excited to see how you cram that in there. Is the inside black flat, satin or glossy?

Keep the pics coming...

 

[Subyman]

I really like the 360 front mounted radiator, I wish more cases offered that mounting option.

 

[SimsReaper]

Hey all, I'm sorry for the lack of updates, but I still haven't received the case. I have received some of the stuff I've ordered, and have started on some of the prep work, like getting ready for all the cable sleeeving. I will post some pics tonight of where I have gotten.

This is gonna be a fairly drawn out project, I'm not gonna rush it. I feel like I rushed my first one, but that was because it was for my only running pc. Now this is my opportunity to really put the time and effort into all the little stuff, and only transfer my system when everything else is ready.

Thanks for following it though, and I hope you like what you'll see.

 

[SimsReaper]

Tweakin, it is a 45mm thick rad. When I get the case, I am gonna do a proper measurement, it'll depend on just how deep I can get it all, but I may have to either re-order a rad, or install a mesh cutout in the top of the case, with a custom bracket to raise the rad up a bit. I'm not sure what I want to do yet, but I def do agree that there may well be an issue.

 

[Tweakin]

Tweakin, it is a 45mm thick rad. When I get the case, I am gonna do a proper measurement, it'll depend on just how deep I can get it all, but I may have to either re-order a rad, or install a mesh cutout in the top of the case, with a custom bracket to raise the rad up a bit. I'm not sure what I want to do yet, but I def do agree that there may well be an issue.

I measured mine out and 45mm was too much including the fans. The top is recessed with gives you 25mm. From there you have another 40mm to the top of the MB screws. If you go with a 120mm wide rad, it is slightly off-set away from the MB by about 15mm which will help. I've tested my ST-30 and it fits perfect.

For the front you have 150mm max, and that would take you to the edge of the PSU shelf. Since you are using a 240 with the 360, port locations should not be an issue as it will be with mine.

Hope this helps...

 

[SimsReaper]

Ok... this one kinda got away from me, and turned into a very expensive exercise in dealing with boredom, but... man it should be a finished computer for the ages! It's definitely going to be a headturner.
I finally pulled the trigger on the last of the parts I am going to be using. I'll list the whole thing below
The parts I've already mentioned....
NZXT H440 ATX Mid Tower
XSPC RX360 Triple Fan Radiator V3
XSPC RX240 Dual Fan Radiator V3
Scythe Gentle Typhoon 120mm Fan (X8)
XSPC Photon 170 Tube Glass (X2)

And the ones I have just purchased in the last week and today, as I finalized how I wanted everything.

EVGA Geforce GTX 780 - the pair to the one I currently run
XSPC Razor 780/780TI Water Block
EVGA Pro SLI Bridge
XSPC Razor GTX Titan / 780 Backplate
Alphacool VPP655 Variable Speed Pump - the pair to the one I currently run
Samsung 840 Evo 500GB SSD - This will make it a full SSD rig. 750 GB in all
Scythe Gentle Typhoon 120mm Fan (X4) - need a few more in case I break some during the painting... may have happened already to one of them :'(
Primochill LRT 1/2 in 3/4 OD Tubing (20 Ft)
550lb Paracord – Red (100 ft) - will be sleeving everything in this red/ black/ white scheme
550lb Paracord – White (100 ft)
550lb Paracord – Black (100 ft)
Black Ice GTS Stealth 240 Gen 2 - my 240 XSPC rad probably willnot fit without extensive case mods, so this is probably going to be used in its place. Wont know for sure until I have the case.
Swiftech 1/2IN X 3/4IN Compression Fittings (X 12) - I would have liked to use Bitspower but they had to be imported, so...
Swiftech 45 Degree Swivel Elbow – Black (X 4)
Swiftech 90 Degree Swivel Elbow – Black (X 4)
Modding Accessories, various - this includes some extra pins and connectors in case anything happens while sleeving, little accessories that will add up during the build
Mayhems Pastel Coolant Conc. – Ice White (X 2)
Mayhems Pastel Coolant Conc. – Red (X 2) - after looking around on various forums, I will be using the Mayhem coolants, 3 yr lifespan, and compatible with the Primochill LRT tubing I'm using. Picked up twice what I should need, because I want to be sure I have enough for the color I want.

Long ass list though, and it sure did add up.... but I'm gona make sure it is all worth it in the end ;D

Now for the waiting... stupid long ass delivery times, and case backorders... but I will continue to work on the sleeving. I am kinda lucky, as the 1250W XFX power supply I use is fully modular and came with 4 sets of PCI-E cables, so I have two sets I can sleeve right now, and have them ready to go. Same goes for the drive cables. The only one I will have to do with my system down is the 24 pin mobo cable. But that's ok, I built myself a good little pin removal tool by dremeling down a pair of tweezers and then splitting them apart.

I will post some more pics as I get some decent work done.

 

[SimsReaper]

Thanks Tweakin for the measurements. I went ahead and bought a new 240 rad, I currently have the stealth 360 in my setup and have been super happy with it. I am still thinking about modifying the case for the XSPC but I want to wait and see what it all comes with first. If I do it that way, I willmake a raised mesh shell and make a custom mount, allowing for a push pull top rad as well. Cant say if that would work until I have my case though. I mean anything is doable, but wether or not it will be worth the effort, I don't know.

 

[Tweakin]

I can't wait to see what you do with all those "leet" parts! You are out of my league!

 

[SimsReaper]

Ok, so a quick little update. While I wait for stuff to come in, I have been working on the fans and wire sleeving that I can. First step was to build a pin removal tool. I tried a few different things, with limited success before I was able to convince my fiancé to part with a set of her tweezers. So just a plain set of tweezers, a dremel with a grinding wheel, and about 10 minutes, and I was cruising along.

So after everything was said and done, we have the 2 sets of PCI-E power wires I will be using separated from the connector and 2 SATA power cables for the SSD's. I also got the fans separated from the housings. I'll pick up some paint this week and see how they take to it.

 

[SimsReaper]

K, I've gotten a little bit accomplished in the past few days. Mostly I tried to get a start on the LED replacements. The XSPC water blocks come standard with Blue LED's, and I went and purchased Superbright Red LEDS, both 3 and 5 mm. I also picked up the new resistors I will need, as the Superbright Red's had slightly different power requirements. Ended up changing them from the stock 91 ohm to 110 ohm, not a big difference but I'm happier with it being right. Plus I was finally able to use my Solder station for something other than work

Start

And Finished

And here is the finished product tested inside their home reservoirs. Super happy with the result, and when I get my sleeving material in, I will be sleeving these as well.

 

[SimsReaper]

Interesting Side Note!! For those of you out there who have worked whit LED's regularly this may be known,
but an LED bulb will usually have 2 leads, one longer than the other that will indicate polarity. This is necessary to get right.
Normally, the smaller metal plate in the bulb (the anode) will lead to the longer lead. EXCEPT with Red LED's, where the anode and c
athode sizes are reversed...apparently. hahaha. Found this one out the hard way. I ignored the longer lead, and went directly
off of the small plate and couldn't get the setup to work. I had to build a little AA battery pack, 3 of them gives 4.5 V, and then
test the 2 different leads to confirm polarity. A little more research on the net confirmed this.

A question for anyone following. Does anyone have issues with my posting original size pictures? The website does automatically r
e-size them but would anyone like me to edit the files first to a more manageable size before posting?

 

[Tweakin]

...Does anyone have issues with my posting original size pictures? The website does automatically re-size them but would anyone like me to edit the files first to a more manageable size before posting?

Bigger is better and it allows us to really nit-pick your system!!! LOL

Love the dual res by the way, are they going in parallel?

 

[SimsReaper]

Picked up 3 boxes from the post office today!

Here's the new arrivals!
First up is the new GTX 780

, and its XSPC water block, a low-profile 240 rad (Tweakin provided some measurements and I don't think my XSPC rad will fit up top), the backordered fans, and a bunch of fittings, and the pump.

So I got right to work stripping the led wires, and the fans. Here is the fans ready for painting. You cant quite see it in the images, but the 3mm LED wires from my current system and the newly arrived block are stripped and replaced just out of frame.

 

[Tweakin]

I can't wait to see the XSPC block glowing in Red...And I want those Photons!

 

[SimsReaper]

Alrighty Tweakin, ask and you shall receive

I got a few more things today, the new SSD, the last of the fans, but most importantly to me right now, some paracord arrived. Now the sleeving begins.

So, of course the first thing to sleeve was my LED strings I have been working on. I'm doing them all in black, to blend as much as possible as it will be hard to completely hide the LED wires.
Here's the first finished product. This will light the video card blocks. I paired the led's to cut the wiring down, and one wire will do the right side top and bottom card, the other wire the left side. This will keep anything from having to cross the mobo, and hopefully help with the wire management. I purposefully have one side longer to make it easier to reach from wherever I end up on the new case.

And, finally, as I was excited to see it in action, here is a shot of the led's in my XSPC Razor CPU block that I am currently runing. The 3mm superbright reds do the job perfectly, thowing of lots of glow. It matches perfectly with the ROG motherboard LED lighting and color scheme. Remember the blue fluid I'm currently running will be replaced with Pastel Red to add to the effect even more.
Note: The LED's themselves seem to show up pretty bright on camera, but the effect looking at them isn't so pronounced, making the acrylic glow stand out more.

 

[Agent11]

I like those xspc blocks, great for led themed builds.

 

[SimsReaper]

Alright, just a little update. Fans and 360 rad are painted, sleeved and back together. And they look great together. Here's the pics, let me know if you like the colors

 

[krnmastersgt]

Looking at your build log updates is making me itch to finish my build

Still currently in planning phase as I wait on my GPU waterblock and debating on 1 of my rads. I like the shade of red but I personally would have liked something a bit brighter, does it match the relative tone of your LEDs (res and cpu block)?

 

[Tweakin]

Without seeing it all together, and knowing you have all kinds of other red accents and lighting, I might have left the rad black. As for the fans, GT's are really ugly in that off gray. The red looks much better.

 

[Tweakin]

Sent you a pm. And your page loads much quicker...nice job! I like looking at your build!

 

[SimsReaper]

Sorry Tweakin, I cant send PM's back to you until I have 25 posts. I read em though.

So I does look like they are having issues manufacturing the Black/ Red H440's. They have sold out the first two production runs completely, and are now taking orders for April delivery... Yikes. I talked to NCIX and they told me that my order was in early enough that I should have mine by the end of the month. So there will be a delay, but what do you do...

Haha, I'm gonna have everything all theaded and ready to go before my case gets here.