My first custom loop. Help me do a shiny!

[moonbogg]

I want some picture's or this thread is a bust!

For you, I will submit pictures of the items I have purchased and of the case. I will take pics as the build progresses, but it hasn't started yet. I am in the phase of collecting all the gear, which I now have except for another busted case. The next phase is gutting the case and installing the rads, just to see if they fit right. I might install the MOBO before actually installing rads. Haven't thought that far ahead yet. The rads might get in the way of getting the MOBO in there.

 

[guskline]

Sorry to hear about the case. Is it a delivery issue?

I bought my Thermaltake Core X9 directly from the MicroCenter in Philadelphia and was able to inspect the box before I left.

Hope you get a good case.

 

[moonbogg]

Thanks. The replacement should be here tomorrow, so it looks like I can get started this weekend. I'm trying to get everything as ready as I can, because once I start this, I'll be without my beloved rig until its finished. I got a laptop if I need the internet though.
Its a nice looking case though. Compared to my current one, its massive. I think I'll enjoy it.

 

[Aikouka]

Hm, you've got me tempted to put my shiny new 980 Ti under water. My previous reservoir was Primochill's first-generation CTR (Compression Tube Reservoir), and it looks like they've got a second generation, which even has D5 support.

 

[moonbogg]

OK today it begins. Tonight I start the build. I'll finally start posting pics of the various items and paraphernalia.

 

[YBS1]

Shouldn't take you more than an hour, we expect benches by six o'clock

 

[moonbogg]

Shouldn't take you more than an hour, we expect benches by six o'clock

LOL! We'll see how it goes haha.

 

[Aikouka]

Shouldn't take you more than an hour, we expect benches by six o'clock

Oh, my... quite the slave driver.

Since he's new, he really ought to perform a leak test for probably around an hour. Although, at least in my experience, you'll see most leaks within about 15 minutes. I think he said that he's not using compression fittings, and I'll admit that those gave me the most problems in the beginning. I kept having issues with the compression ring and the fitting not threading properly, which caused them to catch and loosen the fitting itself. It was really frustrating, and it happened to just about any brand that I used. I found that it was usually more common if your tube was coming in at a bend, which probably isn't that surprising.

Honestly, I just hope that you don't fall into the same trap that I did where I kept seeing spots where I could improve my tubing runs with various adapters. "Hmm, I could have a far more optimal run if I'd use a 45 degree adapter right here!"

 

[YBS1]

Oh, my... quite the slave driver.

Since he's new, he really ought to perform a leak test for probably around an hour. Although, at least in my experience, you'll see most leaks within about 15 minutes.

No, no.....it will be perfectly fine without any testing.
Probably
Maybe

 

[moonbogg]

So your supposed to soak the paper towels first and then cover the components with them for leak testing right?

 

[YBS1]

Yes, as everyone knows wet is wet.... You can't get wetter than wet, so if you go ahead and do that a possible leak won't do any further damage. Basic water cooling 101 silly.

 

[moonbogg]

Sounds legit. I got this!

 

[YBS1]

Hopefully moonbogg is gone now.......this is for the rest of you,

You know how when you say something in jest and they know you're kidding and you know that they know you're kidding. Not too long later you still get that guilty feeling in your stomach for giving the crap advice even though you know the above to be true. Reason being you know how stupid the average person is, then you realize half the population is more stupid than that......
God I hope he returns.......

 

[guskline]

moonbogg will be fine. I spent some time on the phone with him. Smart guy who knows what he is doing! Really excited to get into custom water cooling.

 

[YBS1]

Of course, still didn't stop me from getting that feeling. lol

 

[moonbogg]

OK, you guys deserve an update. I didn't get a lot done because family time takes up much of the evening, but I started. What I did was I unpackaged every item and got familiar with them all, I gutted the case, removing the drive cages and leaving only the uppermost drive bay for the fan controller. There is room for the rads in front and on top. I bought distilled water.
All I need is a funnel, but that will come later. Tomorrow is the real big day where I take this rig apart and install the mobo in the new case, install the water blocks and just do the whole deal. It looks like I can leave the V71 case fans in place right where they are. They don't get in the way but I hope they don't block air flow. I think its fine because I see people mount rads flush up against mesh steel so I think airflow is OK.
Going intake in front and exhaust up top. Going push up top but haven't decided on push or pull in front. Anyway, here are some courtesy pics. You can see the existing mid tower cowering next to the new beast case. You can also just see a bunch of new stuff in the boxes. Its all I got for tonight. Time for some BF4 before ripping this thing apart tomorrow.

I found some nice distilled water.

 

[guskline]

Thanks for the pictures moonbogg. Oh I see those AP15 Gentle Typhoons and that D5 pump!:biggrin::biggrin:

 

[moonbogg]

I'm dropping the photo bomb. This was so much work I can't believe it. Unreal. Anyway, it all looks great and its working. Benches will come later.
My only concern was first time running the pump I didn't see any water being pulled by it at all. The water in the res didn't drop, so I shut it down. It made no noise though at all, so I'm thinking that there was a lot of water in the rad from the first fill and I didn't realize that, and as the water got sucked from the res, it was simultaneously replaced by the rad.
That's my theory anyway and the pump works and is quiet. That first run the pump was only on 2, so I probably just didn't realize it was slowly pulling water. If it runs dry, I would totally hear it whining right? I heard nothing like that so I think I'm ok. Just had noob jitters.
There are a couple barbs that I couldn't get a zip tie around. They are on the bottom and away from all electrical parts, so I'm not worried. The clamps I bought don't even fit on this hose at all, but again, not worried. These barbs hold like a real SOB. I couldn't remove the hose from a barb and I had to do it a few times. All my might and nothing. It didn't budge off that sucker, so I had to cut it off! Those barbs grip like crazy.
I packaged my GPU blowers with screws and heat pads attached, all wrapped up to keep things tidy for later use.

Special thanks to Guskline for personally walking me through many things and suggesting products to purchase. Thanks to all you guys and your good advice and information. This thing is quiet as hell even with fans cranked. All fan controls work and everything else works like it should. Very pleased. GPU idle temps are like 26c and CPU idle 30c or so. I will check under load and do all that and post again with performance information.

EDIT: Ok, did a quick OC and played GTA V. Added 200 to the cores and 300 to the ram for 1380mhz solid no throttling of course. GPU temps didn't break 36c. lol that's funny. I know the loop needs to normalize its temp, but that's still pretty funny. CPU temp 46-53c. Before it was 65c and up during gaming.

 

[YBS1]

MOOOAR MEGAHURTZZZ!!

Glad to see you got her up and running! Have you checked to see just how far you could push the GPUs yet now that they are under water? That 3930K should be up close to 5GHz in no time! :awe:

I arrived back home to my Mercury pedestal sitting at the door for me yesterday, assembled it and ordered a metric crap ton more cooling goodies today. So watercooling fun will be had by all....yeaah! Just have to wait on some special cards to come along now. :twisted:

 

[moonbogg]

I got air pockets in my CPU block. I don't like that. Congrats on your stuff by the way and thanks for the support. CPU hit 55c while playing BF4. That's kinda warm but still more than 10c cooler than before. Time for a water refrigeration unit (jk).

 

[YBS1]

Turn your pump up to full speed (if it's the variable version) and leave it there for a bit, it should work all the air bubbles out into the reservoir eventually.

 

[guskline]

moonbogg, be patient, those air bubbles take time to work out. Keep the pump on level 5 (turn to the right all the way) and let it set on that level for @24 hrs before lowering it. That helps with the flow rate to purge any air in the system. It will louder but you can turn it down once all the air is out of the system.

Also you can gently "rock" the case from left to right and forward and back ward but be sure the cap on the reservoir is snug. This helps with getting trapped air out.

LOOKS GREAT!:biggrin::biggrin::biggrin:

 

[guskline]

`

I got air pockets in my CPU block. I don't like that. Congrats on your stuff by the way and thanks for the support. CPU hit 55c while playing BF4. That's kinda warm but still more than 10c cooler than before. Time for a water refrigeration unit (jk).

Run aida64 Extreme stability test and monitor the per core temps. 54C max is VERY good. My 3930k @4.6Ghz and 1,4 vcore was in the mid to higher 60s stressed but WAY below the thermal threshold. 4.6Ghz was a everyday OC. Silicon varies.

YBS1 is a wild man at 5Ghz but knows what he is doing.

Your real pickup on overall speed will be your gpus. You had an incredible drop in overall temp especially the gpus.

Once you get "settled in" find your gpu overclocking sweet spot. I bet your gpu temps won't jump more than 5 C. And oh moondogg, your sig needs to include some custom water cooling language. You "earned" it.:thumbsup:
GOOD JOB.

 

[aigomorla]

u need clamps!

dont ever assume, oh its snug enough.

The tubing will warp and can / will slip off causing you a nightmare.

You can use Zipties as Clamps just make sure you tug them tight around the barb teeth. This will prevent the section of tubing from warping and then slipping out.

You also have a top mounted radiator.
You can form an air pocket at the top.
It is suggested you rock the case (in your setup, use the PSU as the pivot) so you can force all the air out of the top radiator.

Other then that, you did a fairly great job on your first attempt.
You may however want to add a EK SLI Bridge to clean things up between your gpu blocks.

But that is a option / accessory, for the future.

 

[guskline]

I misread moonbogg. I thought he said the clamps don't fit all around. I would also suggest clamps. Don't trust the barb alone. You can take the clamp apart, slip it around the fitting and tighten it back snug. I like the zip tie idea. Better than nothing!