[Build Log] System Refresh with the New NZXT H440

[Tweakin]

Quick little update,

So I received a few more "toys" in the mail today. One of the worst parts of waiting for this case has been that I have had too much time to think about "What else should I do?" This is followed by "Oh, it's just a little bit more..." and more things arrive in the mail a few days later. :awe:

Here is today's haul. This will all be incorporated into the new H440 build when it gets here.

I have the Z77 board, and my i5-2500K was a bad lotto pick basically maxing out at 4.7, 4.8 GHz, so.... new i5-3570K. This also works as I needed a second CPU for a build I'm doing for my GF using a spare Gen-2 board. Win Win.

And, hell, if I'm doing all this, time for a decent backup drive system/ media drive... 😀

So this weekend I will tear into this, install the new cpu on my board, get it all setup, and see if I cant get that Seagate drive up and running also.

I feel your pain also...I'm sitting here with a botched paint job, no sleeving yet and I keep feeling like I should pick up some new SSD's. It is a sick obsession we have...

By the way, those look like XSPC LCD monitors...don't open the case, very very static sensitive!!! I've destroyed two trying to mount in my bezel.

 

[SimsReaper]

I feel your pains Sims, I've been waiting for almost 8 weeks now on a backordered GPU block from Performance PCS, and I don't feel like assembling and cleaning parts of the loop without having everything in place first. I still need to get around to the physical mods of my case to make everything fit but the wait is annoying and I'm starting to lose interest in the case for now since all the planning and what else could I fit in is getting out of hand 🙁

This is going to be my first build on water so do you think the amount of prep/cleaning you did for your radiators is necessary or is this just something you're doing while you wait?

My first time I only gave everything a thourough rinse and shake with distilled water. I never had any problems with my loop. I'm being extra careful this time because, well, a, I'm bored waiting, and b, I'm using a more aggressive fluid with the mayhems pastel so I wanted to be extra careful on the rinse. From what I can gather , a lot of problems people have had with fluids and dyes have been due to contamination. Just my opinion of course.

 

[SimsReaper]

Well, I'm back, and I finally have some good news. I got in contact with NZXT, found they had a case in stock, had them reserve it for me and got it on the way. I cancelled my "pre-order" with NCIX for the same case, as in talking with them, they did not see themselves as receiving the case until MAYBE late this week. So, I should have it here by Thursday, and with Friday being a holiday, lots of updates coming your way. Let's see if we can't wrap this baby up in the next few weeks!

 

[Tweakin]

It's about time...looking forward to some fresh pics.

 

[SimsReaper]

Hey all, been a few days but I have good news! My case finally showed up!
Box was a little bruised, but the good were mint
Click image for larger version.

It's smaller than my current one, which was supposed to have been the plan, but I never really realized how much smaller. My dreams of a dual loop system in this case just won't happen. Just not enough room for the resevoirs and pumps, at least without pretty serious mods. So I have now spent 2 full days, minus the obligitory easter family time, sleeving, threading, and finally today building the rig. Just finished the leak test and I'm hitting the hay, but here are a few pic's to keep you up to date.

 

[SimsReaper]

The leak test was a success, not a drop! And so the nearly impossible job of running all the wiring neat and cleanly began. I'm actually pretty happy with how it all turned out.

Popped a few covers on...

And ran a quick boot check to make sure I got the wires back in the right spots... haha, ya, I may have been slightly concerned about that.

ITS ALIVE!!!!!

 

[SimsReaper]

And finally, added in the Mayhem fluid, a touch of deep red dye, and we have a pretty nice looking finished machine, if I do say so myself.

Well, lay it on me, what do you guys think, and be real. I can take it. And while I may not change much on this build, I am gonna be putting one together for the fiancee soon and still need the tips. This one was fun. My fingers are killing me, and its not perfect, but she's better than I thought she would be. Its a tight little package. You guys out there that work on those mini systems, man, you have my respect.

 

[Tristor]

Wow, very nice. Looks fantastic. The color scheme is very well put together, and I'm kind of shocked that two rads + a full loop fit in that small of a chassis.

 

[radtechtips]

Way sexy.

 

[Tweakin]

...Well, lay it on me...

So here it goes...Honesty, right...be careful what you wish for.

Your color scheme turned out great. In fact, better then I expected. From the very beginning I thought you were off on the red, but the pics make it look like a dead-on match! Very, very nice and you know I'm not a red fan at all!!!

Looking through the window, however, was a little disappointing for me. All that detail work you have done over the past weeks and I can't see any of it with all that phat 3/4" tubing in the way! No Superman, no illuminated GPU's, not even EVGA SLI bridge! ARGHHHHHHHHHH!!! All that nice work hidden!!!!! And because of all that phat tubing, your excellent wire sleeving skills are drowned out in a sea of red.

With your top rad, I might have mounted the fans on top so that you could see your paint job. I also think it would have created a nice red frame effect through the window with the red bezel on the bottom.

Now, your lcd. It looks crooked. If I didn't know any better, it looks as though you got excited (again) and hurried the final assembly. You're better then that! Square that shit up man! I was also expecting a red lcd to match the scheme..don't get why you used the black with white letters lcd in that case...just seems out of place.

Am I being picky, yes, isn't that what friends are for? Overall, I think it's a great build and you should be proud of your efforts.

 

[SimsReaper]

So here it goes...Honesty, right...be careful what you wish for.

Your color scheme turned out great. In fact, better then I expected. From the very beginning I thought you were off on the red, but the pics make it look like a dead-on match! Very, very nice and you know I'm not a red fan at all!!!

Looking through the window, however, was a little disappointing for me. All that detail work you have done over the past weeks and I can't see any of it with all that phat 3/4" tubing in the way! No Superman, no illuminated GPU's, not even EVGA SLI bridge! ARGHHHHHHHHHH!!! All that nice work hidden!!!!! And because of all that phat tubing, your excellent wire sleeving skills are drowned out in a sea of red.

With your top rad, I might have mounted the fans on top so that you could see your paint job. I also think it would have created a nice red frame effect through the window with the red bezel on the bottom.

Now, your lcd. It looks crooked. If I didn't know any better, it looks as though you got excited (again) and hurried the final assembly. You're better then that! Square that shit up man! I was also expecting a red lcd to match the scheme..don't get why you used the black with white letters lcd in that case...just seems out of place.

Am I being picky, yes, isn't that what friends are for? Overall, I think it's a great build and you should be proud of your efforts.

No man, you are absolutely right on the LCD. It is a touch crooked, and I plan on fixing it. But the detail work is there. Just hard to see from the angle of the pics. Once I have everything benched and setup properly from the hardware and software side, I was planning on a nice photo shoot and showcase. That would include multiple angles, and show off the little details better, and also show the fan control mod off.

But that is also why I asked for exactly the kind of constructive criticism you gave me! :thumbsup: I want to take into account as many of the little picky things as possible before the final "finished" shoot.

Thanks man!

P.S. - I will also be taking care of that reservoir return tubing... Its maybe half an inch to long...

 

[Tweakin]

No man, you are absolutely right on the LCD. It is a touch crooked, and I plan on fixing it. But the detail work is there. Just hard to see from the angle of the pics. Once I have everything benched and setup properly from the hardware and software side, I was planning on a nice photo shoot and showcase. That would include multiple angles, and show off the little details better, and also show the fan control mod off.

But that is also why I asked for exactly the kind of constructive criticism you gave me! :thumbsup: I want to take into account as many of the little picky things as possible before the final "finished" shoot.

Thanks man!

P.S. - I will also be taking care of that reservoir return tubing... Its maybe half an inch to long...

I've been thinking about this all day...wasn't sure how you would take my feedback. I'm still looking at the pics as it is a nice build...and I started to think...have you thought about moving the res and mounting it on the back of your front rad? This would eliminate two additional lines running all the way across your window?

By the way, does that photon tube res light up? I've been meaning to ask. Now I have to be ready for you to tear me a new a$$hole on my build...LOL!

 

[SimsReaper]

I have my front rad in push pull except for the bottom fan. I figured with the issues of air flow some others have noticed, the more fans the better. As well, the XSPC Photon Reservoirs don't allow for top connections, at least without an apparently VERY hard to find adapter, so I would have a tubing nightmare having the 2 rad's connections plus the reservoirs connections all in the same corner. And truthfully, with the tubing running across the window like it does, I think it actually looks really good.

 

[SimsReaper]

It does light up in the middle tube. But, the pastel coolant is more opaque than I had thought, so you can only see the tip at the top of the res. But it does glow red at the top.

 

[Tweakin]

I have my front rad in push pull except for the bottom fan. I figured with the issues of air flow some others have noticed, the more fans the better. As well, the XSPC Photon Reservoirs don't allow for top connections, at least without an apparently VERY hard to find adapter, so I would have a tubing nightmare having the 2 rad's connections plus the reservoirs connections all in the same corner. And truthfully, with the tubing running across the window like it does, I think it actually looks really good.

I didn't know that they only had bottom ports, learn something new everyday...then where it is would be the best place.

 

[bleucharm28]

I would of use acrylic tubing, the ones you bent yourself. Your build is nice, but those type of tubing and design is kind of a thing of past. Your build would look 100% more clean if you used acrylic tubing. Nothing like straight 90 degree turn. 🙂

 

[Tweakin]

I would of use acrylic tubing, the ones you bent yourself. Your build is nice, but those type of tubing and design is kind of a thing of past. Your build would look 100% more clean if you used acrylic tubing. Nothing like straight 90 degree turn. 🙂

I wouldn't say a build of this quality using tubing is a thing of the past...acrylic tubing is just the current esoteric material with copper tubing making a strong run also.

I also love the looks of the clean lines, but It's not mainstream at all, IMHO.

 

[SimsReaper]

Well, I spent a good chunk of last night working on overclocking the new 3570 cpu... but, I didn't get the results I was hoping for. I seem to be hitting a bit of a wall at 4.6 GHz. I haven't pushed the voltage extremely far yet, but I am running at about 1.338 V at 4.6, and 1.320 at 4.5. At those voltages and speeds, the temps are very respectable, but I just couldn't get any stability above 4.6, even pushing the voltage up past 1.365 V. I am going to read up a little more on ivy bridge o/c'ing, but at first glance the silicone lottery appears to have been a miss for this guy.

 

[Tweakin]

Well, I spent a good chunk of last night working on overclocking the new 3570 cpu... but, I didn't get the results I was hoping for. I seem to be hitting a bit of a wall at 4.6 GHz. I haven't pushed the voltage extremely far yet, but I am running at about 1.338 V at 4.6, and 1.320 at 4.5. At those voltages and speeds, the temps are very respectable, but I just couldn't get any stability above 4.6, even pushing the voltage up past 1.365 V. I am going to read up a little more on ivy bridge o/c'ing, but at first glance the silicone lottery appears to have been a miss for this guy.

So what kind of temps are you getting?

 

[krnmastersgt]

That's a busy looking case on the inside with all those runs lol, but with the amount of fitting points in there it's no surprise either, were you expecting the tubes to run around like that inside the window or was that just necessitated by the tubing and the positions of your fittings? Overall great looking build, but as Tweakin said some of the really nice parts are hidden in the shots you took!

Also planning on de-lidding the 4670K? I'm still on the fence about it personally but there's a good chance if this chip OC's well at all (though I have another brand new 4770K just sitting in my closet too that I could test out).

 

[SimsReaper]

I just have a 3570K in there, but, no, I'm not planning on de-lidding it. I've unfortunately had to come to terms with the fact that it is not a great overclocking chip, and I've settled for 4.6 GHz as a day to day speed. Don't get me wrong, that is decent, but there is always the hope for that golden chip 😀

As for temps, after 4 hours of Prime95 my max CPU temps don't go much over 50, and the very highest my individual core temps hit was 71 deg C.

For real heat stressing, I use AIDA64, and stress the GPU's at the same time, and that does take my temps up to around 60 deg. I'm happy with that as that has both GPU's and the CPU working at 100%.

Idle temps are just 21 deg C (ambient is usually 19), and normal use temps are just around 24-26 (light gaming, web browsing and videos).
This weekend I can post some more informative pics, a have already made up the electrical drawing for the fan switch, and I'm looking forward to having that finished and installed.

 

[Tweakin]

Eagerly Waiting on those pics....

 

[SimsReaper]

Well, the fan switch mod is complete. 8 volts on demand to the fans for light use, web browsing, watching movies and what not. When the switch is set to this 8 V setting, it is actually surprisingly quiet. Very happy with how it turned out. And with just a mini rocker switch visible on the outside.

I attempted a decent photo shoot. Some turned out pretty good, some, well, haha, lets just say I need some practice still. And a few more lenses for my Sony Alpha NEX-5.
Well here you all are, my new computer.

 

[SimsReaper]

10 image max I see. I wanted to add this last one, shows a how the case looks in standard lighting.

 

[Tweakin]

Sony Alpha NEX 5...that's the camera I've been looking at...we do think alike!

Now that the beast is all put together and running, are you going to mod the top and front panels to allow for additional air flow?