(Work log) Cube - Bitfenix Prodigy water build

[OVerLoRDI]

Some of you are familiar with my bigger Caselabs M8 machine I have named MegaCube:
http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2148763

Now I wanted something a bit more portable and also have a spare machine for friends to use when they come visit. When I discovered the Bitfenx Prodigy case, I fell in love.

 

[OVerLoRDI]

Going to start measuring for watercooling parts soon. The plan is the thickest 240mm radiator I can fit on top and the largest front radiator I can fit. Possibly a 120mm radiator on the back if I can wiggle it in there. Definitely going to be using the swiftech block with the built in pump. Single loop, CPU and GPU.

To be continued..

8/23

GPU block is here and installed. Nothing too exciting, but I'll post it anyways.

Fan has got to go, no one loves you

Oh EK, I am so pleased I got a hold of one of your older blocks rather than your awful new design.

Nickle plated. Which is mostly pointless since this an acetal top, but it was the only new EK-FC7970 I could find. Hopefully EK fixed their nickle issues..

Such a sleek and simple design. Why did they have to change it to the stupid circles?

7970, nothing new here

Again, nice a simple sleek design

Block all installed.

Man do I hate cutting and installing thermal pads. I'm thankful that EK got rid of the washer arrangement for mounting blocks. That was seriously annoying on the FC6970 blocks.

 

[OVerLoRDI]

Reserved

 

[billyb0b]

i'm interested in seeing your results with the new swiftech block/pump. it is a neat design.

 

[dmoney1980]

Awesome! Thanks for sharing! Looking at how close the cpu is to the pci-e slot, I can't imagine many tower coolers being compatible....

 

[OVerLoRDI]

i'm interested in seeing your results with the new swiftech block/pump. it is a neat design.

Yeah, saves a lot of space, so in this situation it seemed like a good fit. Also it looks like it has a heat sink attached to the pump so that solves the warm ddc issue.

Will be measuring and putting together a part list this weekend for the water. loop.

 

[T_Yamamoto]

There's a lot of prodigy water builds over at OCN. Those are all great.

 

[aigomorla]

DUDE i was so about to get one of those cases for a new HTPC.. >.<

Let me know how you like it after build is done.

Can you roof mount a 240 and ditch the optical for a USB optical when you need one?
As long as u dont overdue it on overclocking of the GPU and CPU, u could probably hold everything within acceptable ranges on a 240.

 

[OVerLoRDI]

DUDE i was so about to get one of those cases for a new HTPC.. >.<

Let me know how you like it after build is done.

Can you roof mount a 240 and ditch the optical for a USB optical when you need one?
As long as u dont overdue it on overclocking of the GPU and CPU, u could probably hold everything within acceptable ranges on a 240.

That is what I was thinking as well. I was planning on overclocking though :twisted:

I'll likely be going with a 240 up top, and a thick 120mm up front and maybe another 120mm rad in the back if it will fit. Swiftech drive 2 CPU block, some full cover 7970 block, and a tiny res somewhere.

As far as Ivy bridge goes, I'm surprised. With the stock intel heatsink and some PK-1 TIM prime95 only got the cpu up to ~65C and really didn't make a lot of noise. I'm still giong to lap it, de-lid it and put a new TIM in there :twisted: The Ivy will eventually end up in my dual 7970 system simply because the PCI-E 3.0 will make a difference with the crossfire, where as it won't with one GPU.

The stock 7970 is quite a little tornado with loaded up. Going to flash it up to the GE bios and that will only increase its noise level I imagine.

 

[OVerLoRDI]

Now on to the parts. I took me quite some time to plan the tubing routes in this little case. I ultimately went with a 240 and a 120 rad paired with AP-14s. Part list:

Not included in that was the last EK FC-7970 full cover block I could find. Plus an EK back place. I really wish EK hadn't changed their look to that stupid circle pattern. Their old stuff looked great IMO. Plus the block had to have G1/4 holes on the "top" side of the card, not just the bottom, like the current CSQ blocks. Parts should be here by this weekend and I'll get started.

Eventually I'll get around to making wires, but right now I have a lot on my plate with work so the wiring side of the project will be delayed until later.

 

[Piano Man]

Very curious as to how this will turn out. I myself was looking at this until I found out it took up more space than the mATX silverstone TJ08B-E, but that's because I'm just thinking of aircooling. 360 worth of rad in this thing will be awesome.

 

[Rvenger]

Subbed

 

[OVerLoRDI]

GPU block got here and is installed. Excited for all my parts to show up tomorrow

 

[danjw]

I am curious what power supply you are using in this build?

 

[OVerLoRDI]

Update time. Man, cramming water cooling into this thing is a tough task. I ran into some dimension issues and some tubing issues as well.

Let's start with how it sits today:

Notice the lack of fans on the top radiator? Well, there is a bit of a spacing issue with the GPU block fittings. The standard EK XT radiator is just a tiny bit too thick for fans to be mounted in a push configuration. I have a Magicool Slim 240 in my Caselabs M8, and I'll be swapping that at a later date, and then I won't have an issue.

Spacing in general is really really tight in this case, even though it is "massive" for a Mini-ITX case. After attempting to fit things based on my rough estimates, I'm back at FrozenCPU to buy more junk to make things fit nicely.

My final loop, which I feel very confident about is this:
(This is direction of flow perspective starting from the CPU block/pump)
CPU block/pump
45 degree rotary
90 degree barb
20mm extender
GPU block
40mm extender
90 degree barb
90 degree barb
25mm extender
Top radiator
20mm extender
30 degree rotary adapter
standard barb
standard barb
30 degree rotary adapter
90 degree rotary adapter
Bottom Rad
90 degree rotary adapter
dual male coupler
90 degree rotary adapter
Reservoir
90 degree barb
90 degree barb
CPU Block/pump

The tube runs are mostly tiny and it should turn out to be a really slick build when it all put together.

Now about the tubing issues. I snagged some 3/8 ID, 5/8 OD tubing for this build, to save a little space on the inside. This turned out to be a mistake. The tubing is incredibly stiff and seems like the ID is slightly less than 3/8"

It was incredibly difficult to get on the barbs, and absolutely impossible to get off. To remove it I had to grab a really sharp pair of scissors and cut the tubing off as close to the barb as possible. Unscrew the barb, and then cut the tubing off of the barb. So I snagged some 3/8" ID 1/2" OD, hoping that it will be much more supple and easier to deal with. Since my tube runs are going to be mostly straight (thanks to all those fittings and extenders), I won't have to worry about kinks.

 

[OVerLoRDI]

I am curious what power supply you are using in this build?

Corsair AX850. I had it left over when I upgraded my Main desktop to a Seasonic X-1050. The modular cables are difficult to fit, but it is possible.

 

[danjw]

Corsair AX850. I had it left over when I upgraded my Main desktop to a Seasonic X-1050. The modular cables are difficult to fit, but it is possible.

This is a build I found a little bit ago, you might find helpful: http://www.overclock.net/t/1296642/watercooled-bitfenix-prodigy-build

 

[OVerLoRDI]

This is a build I found a little bit ago, you might find helpful: http://www.overclock.net/t/1296642/watercooled-bitfenix-prodigy-build

Looks awesome, I just wanted to avoid using external fans, so I'm focusing on keeping everything internal even if it is a pain. His use of space is probably more effective than mine.

 

[Rvenger]

I want to buy this case and I can't even find it anywhere

 

[danjw]

I want to buy this case and I can't even find it anywhere

You aren't alone. They are fairly new and BitFenix seems to be trickling them out. Newegg, is listing the Black as 'Discontinued', that it is out of stock and they don't know when or if they will get it back in stock.

 

[OVerLoRDI]

You aren't alone. They are fairly new and BitFenix seems to be trickling them out. Newegg, is listing the Black as 'Discontinued', that it is out of stock and they don't know when or if they will get it back in stock.

I doubt they are discontinued. That wouldn't make much sense at all.

 

[danjw]

I doubt they are discontinued. That wouldn't make much sense at all.

I agree, but they may have decided to tweak it a bit. I know many have complained about the length of the USB 3.0 cable. So maybe they are fixing that and it will be a different sku. That issue wouldn't be so bad, if anyone had an extension cable. I looked around for that, but I didn't see anything.

 

[OVerLoRDI]

I agree, but they may have decided to tweak it a bit. I know many have complained about the length of the USB 3.0 cable. So maybe they are fixing that and it will be a different sku. That issue wouldn't be so bad, if anyone had an extension cable. I looked around for that, but I didn't see anything.

What I would like them to fix is the PSU spacing. Modular PSUs are really really tight. We just need a few more mm, or maybe more holes cut for wires and we'd be golden.

 

[danjw]

What I would like them to fix is the PSU spacing. Modular PSUs are really really tight. We just need a few more mm, or maybe more holes cut for wires and we'd be golden.

I doubt that would happen, swapping a cable is probably a lot quicker change then changing the metal frame. But, hope springs eternal.

 

[OVerLoRDI]

Got all my fittings, and the loop is all built! Huzzah!

Everything came together pretty much how I planned it would