My first water project. *Work in progress - Lots of pics warning*

[Interitus]

Figured I'd port this in from one of my private forums. Just wanted to have a publicly visible log of my project for friends/family to see. As this is ported, it may be dumbed down a little due to lower tech knowledge levels of those that it was originally targeted towards. Just keep that in mind

With that said this will most likely be a slow moving project. I'm in learning and discovery phase in the watercooling scene, and I'm going to take my time and tinker a bit. I'm also a college student on a limited budget, so I probably will not be sleeving every cable and making this a work of art. Going to do my best at cable management and such, but I don't have the budget for the finer details right now. That will be an improvement step to be taken at a later time. Hardware isn't the newest either, but I'm happy with its performance for now.

Ok, enough BS, on to the beginning

Hardware:

Motherboard: EVGA X58 SLI
CPU: i7 920 d0
RAM: 6GB Crucial Ballistix Tracer
Case: CaseLabs Magnum M8
GPU: XFX reference 5850 (trying to source a second)
Sound: X-Fi Fatality Pro
PSU: Enermax Revolution85+ 950w
Storage: WD Black 640 OS - 3x 1TB storage

Cooling:

Radiator Fans: 6x GT AP-15's
Case Fans: Yate Loon Red LED 120's (Medium speed)
Radiators: 2x Swiftech MCR320's
Pumps: 2x Swiftech MCP355's (DDC 3.2)
Pump top: EK Dual DDC serial (Acetal)
CPU block: EK Supreme HF Nickel
Board block: Enzotech EV-X58
GPU block: Koolance 5850 full cover (trying to source a match for 2nd 5850)
Reservoir: Iandh Stealth 225ml
Tubing: Primochill Pro LRT 3/8-5/8 (Red)
Fittings: Koolance 3/8-5/8 compressions, Koolance 45 and 90 degree rotaries
RAM cooling: Cruical Ballistix RAMcooler

Theme for the build is red/black/chrome-nickel.

 

[Interitus]

Parts:

 

[Interitus]

 

[Interitus]

Caselabs M8 arrival pics

 

[Interitus]

Big PPC's and Aquatuning order, ouch to the wallet, lol.

Parts include:

Gentle Typhoon radiator fans
Alphacool LED lit stop plug (to light the reservoir red as I will be using distilled only)
Bitspower Temperature probe plug
PSU jumpstart plug (just for convenience when priming the pump/filling the loop)
Iandh Silver Killcoils
3-fan power distribution PCB's
3-pin fan extensions
Silicon fan isolators
The Yate Loon case fans
Lamptron power switch (one that comes with the case is blue, new one is red to match theme)
Koolance comps/45's/90's

 

[Interitus]

PPC's order cont'd:

 

[Interitus]

That's all the parts for now. Trying to tell myself I have the money for QDC's, but most likely that will be a future addition to the rig. Also have no idea where I would put them as I haven't entirely worked out my loop design. Still test fitting parts.

In the meantime I stripped down the case, replaced the power switch with the new red one, set up the PSU side the way I wanted, and installed the case fans. After an hour or two and some fingers that feel and look like bloody hamburger from tugging at the fan isolators, all the case fans are mounted.

I ran into an issue with the Caselabs case and my Swiftech radiators. Seems they're just a tad too wide for the radiator mounting area. In the last pics below you can see what's causing the problem. Unfortunately I was mounting them in a way where the issue didn't present itself until it was too late and the rads took a little damage. Jim from Caselabs has been working with me on a solution for this problem. Can't say enough good things about him. Guy really stands by his product and takes care of his customers. :thumbsup:

And the minor setback...

That's all for now. Will working on a solution for the rad problem for a bit. Once that gets taken care of, I'll move on with the build.

 

[ViviTheMage]

Get QDC's ... worth it.

That case is beast!

 

[manimal]

ya NICE case!

 

[aigomorla]

nice worklog!

keep it going!

 

[Interitus]

Looks like I'll be getting a spacer to clear the problematic recesses from Caselabs.

I'm kind of tossing around the idea of re-tapping the rads to M4 as well. I've never re-tapped anything before, so not entirely sure if I want to do this yet. Also not sure if I can just go at the holes with a hand tap without drilling them wider. I'd be a little nervous drilling, as a slip of the drill could mean catastrophe for the rad there.

Reason for the tap idea is that I managed to snag some of Koolance's rad mounting screws for cheap on fleabay (got 6 sets of 4 for $20 shipped). However, I didn't do my research and found out the hard way that the MCR's are tapped to M3.5/6-32 instead of M4. I did find some thread adapters, but none of them were 6-32 to M4 Shame, as it would've been ideal since the little extra height would've made perfect post length for a 25mm fan + my Thermochill gaskets. Ah the love-hate relationship with builds.

Headed to the hardware stores today to try and scavenge materials for the pump mounting. I also realized that if a case-floor mount proved too troublesome, I can probably hang the pump assembly off of the hard drive cage since it's mounted in the middle location. I'd just have to get some kind of extenders to lower the height of the assembly a bit as my reservoir is going to sit a tad low in order to clear the DVD drive on the motherboard side of the case.

Decisions, decisions

 

[muskie32]

Looking good!

 

[Interitus]

Little progress today.

I managed to find a metric hand tap set at Sears. I took it home and got to work on one of the rads. Needless to say, I'll probably never do this again, lol. Royal pain in the (rated G substitute here). The Koolance screws weren't helping either. Don't know if it was QC, or how I was tapping as I've never done this before. Either way, some of them fit, others not so much. It seemed to me like half of them were better suited for the M4 x .75 tap rather than the standard M4 x .7 tap. A little improvisation on my part though and I got them all in.

Overall it accomplished my goal. I was able to mount the fans AND the Thermochill gasket without having to sticky tape the gasket to anything. You'll see in the pics below that the Koolance screws hold the gasket in place and the fans just squish it down.

I did tear up the cap nuts for the screws a bit because I had to use them as a grabbing point to brute force quite a few of the screws into the new threads. I figure I'll just file the mangled parts down a bit later and hit them with a coat of paint and they'll look nice again. Nothing a few dollars can't fix.

 

[muskie32]

Coming together Nice!

 

[Interitus]

Coming together Nice!

Thank ya

Unfortunately after that tedious re-tapping process and putting in all the silicon isolators, my fingers are coming apart real nice lol.

Still trying to figure out the Res -> pump routing. Once I get that figured out I can really get going. It's just looking like the tube going to the pump is going to be almost level with the case bottom. Probably gonna have to put the case on a see-saw to fill the loop, lol.

 

[Lightflash]

Just wait until you get to the compression fittings. Can be fun to have your fingers look like beets.

Could you show a picture of how you plan to route the loop? We might be able to help you out with it and maybe give a different view on how you can run it. I know with my TH10 build, I have about 20 different ways I could run it, just need to draw them out a few times to see what is easier and I like short runs instead of long runs.

 

[Sephire]

Like.

 

[WoodButcher]

"My first water project."???


I don't believe you.
Nice toys,
we'll be watching,,,,:sneaky:

 

[Interitus]

Just wait until you get to the compression fittings. Can be fun to have your fingers look like beets.

Could you show a picture of how you plan to route the loop? We might be able to help you out with it and maybe give a different view on how you can run it. I know with my TH10 build, I have about 20 different ways I could run it, just need to draw them out a few times to see what is easier and I like short runs instead of long runs.

I'll try to take a good pic of both sides tomorrow and ghetto up a plan in paint to show how I planned on running the tubes. My biggest "issue" I guess you could call it, is that the reservoir has to fit under the DVD drive(s) yet somehow still be high enough above the pump to let the water flow easily into the pump. This is mainly for first time filling and/or refilling ease. My original plan was to mount the res on the MB side underneath the DVD drive, and to have the pump assembly on the PSU side. Problem is that by the time I mount the pump an inch or so off of the floor to allow airflow underneath the DDC's, the res tube that feeds the pump might very well be at the same exact height. Long story short, the tube leading to the pump would be almost horizontal.

"My first water project."???


I don't believe you.
Nice toys,
we'll be watching,,,,:sneaky:

I'm flattered, but yes this is indeed my first attempt at water cooling I've done a ton of research and build log studying, so I might know a little more than the average entry level aspiring WC enthusiast, but I still have my rookie moments, lol.

 

[QuantumPion]

Wow that is the coolest case ever. I was planning on going with an 800D for my next build but that thing looks way easier to watercool and isn't outrageously expensive.

 

[nyker96]

ooooo I just love those pictures!! great case, that red eye looks like Hal 9000. ;]

 

[Interitus]

Wow that is the coolest case ever. I was planning on going with an 800D for my next build but that thing looks way easier to watercool and isn't outrageously expensive.

I was in the same boat. I looked at quite a few cases. Checked out the MM Pinnacle, DangerDen Doublewides, LD PC-V8, and none of them really grabbed my attention like this one did. Their support has been worth half the case's price alone as well.

Really hard to justify $300 for an 800D when there's this one out there.

ooooo I just love those pictures!! great case, that red eye looks like Hal 9000. ;]

Lol, that's how I describe that reset button too. The red light is the HDD activity LED. I thought using that reset switch was pretty cool. Should look great with the red replacement power button I installed

 

[WoodButcher]

I'm flattered, but yes this is indeed my first attempt at water cooling I've done a ton of research and build log studying, so I might know a little more than the average entry level aspiring WC enthusiast, but I still have my rookie moments, lol.

We all have rookie moments,,, I've been a carpenter for over 30 years and still have moments. Might be the beginning of alzheimers but I do have moments.


The homework makes a difference, water is not difficult nor complicated, hot's on the left, cold on the right and **** flows downhill. Choosing good parts and a little common sense go a long way. I look forward to seeing a successful loop and the subsequent rebuilds. Your addicted now, Aigo'ed so to speak.

 

[Interitus]

Well the hands healed up enough to destroy them some more today, so I got to work again. Second rad is tapped and assembled, mounted the DDC's into the EK dual top, and the spacers from Caselabs arrived today. Spent a couple of hours, didn't get a whole lot done, but hey, progress is progress.

Pics are a bit grainy. Didn't realize until after I uploaded that there was crap on the camera lens, lol.

Spacers from CL:

Oh lil' ol' DDC's, that top just won't do.

Much better

These anti-vibration mounts came with the EK dual top. They're for using the bay mounts, but after much deliberation, I'm going to drill holes into the case's bottom plate and use them to mount the DDC's to the floor. I originally wanted a taller mount for max airflow underneath the pumps, but this should do fine. No point in throwing more money at something custom made.

I might head to the auto parts store and grab some vacuum hose to create a little more height on those mounts. Obviously I won't need the height of the top screw just to screw down the DDC's feet, so a bit of vacuum hose that will fit around the screw could be cut to shorten the screw and add a little height for the mount. Cheap fix

 

[Interitus]

Here's an extremely ghetto MS-paint mock-up of the tubing runs. Laugh away, lol.

Here's how I planned the loop:

Res > through to PSU side > pumps > PSU side rad > MB side rad >
CPU block > chipset block > VGA block > Res

The main concern I have here is whether water will easily flow from the res to the pump if the tube section that runs between the res and the pump winds up being almost horizontal. I was also not sure about using a 90 on the pump inlet as I wasn't sure if that would create air bubble problems or cavitation in the pump as water flows in.

I still have to incorporate my Koolance drain in this too. I was thinking of running the tube out of the Pumps flat for a few inches to run the inline drain. That way when I need to drain I can just unscrew the bottom plate on that side and just let the water drain out the bottom of the case. Seemed easy enough.

Another thing I considered was use of the QDC's. Ideally, I would want to use 2 sets of QDC's in a way that would allow me to remove the MB tray without draining. That leaves me with 2 locations for the QDC's: in between the MB side rad and CPU block, and then between the VGA and the reservoir. The VGA to res tube portion would be fine, I'm just guessing the rad to CPU block portion would be troublesome due to the size of QDC's and the length of that tube.

Anyways, here's the pics, advice is welcome here.