Big Red

Choklitmlk

New member
For lack of imagination, this thread has been titled Big Red. Feel free to suggest better names, I know it needs one, but I'm not really into naming my stuff...

I've been working on this build for a wee while now, as a uni student it took me a LONG time to get the money together for this rig, and it was many months of effort. This is also the first time I've ever tried either a case mod or water cooling of any kind, so please dont be too surprised if its not up to your standards, it was a labour of love and a personal project that has kept me entertained for many a late night.

Basically, the idea behind this rig was efficency and power in a small but silent rig, hence the mATX form factor with z77, a 3770k and GTX670s in a define series case. I've long wanted to do a watercooled project, as well as a multi GPU setup, and it seemed now was the time. I've been building basic rigs for friends, family and acquaintances for a few years now, including a couple of my own, but nothing ever of this magnatude.

I originally started a build log for this rig, but as my time was/is so limited I didn't have enough time to update the log, especially with anything decent, this was the culmination of a few hours a late night once or twice a week for a few months.

The rig is used for some decent gaming, aswell as my programming assignemts (I'm studying Computer Engineering majoring in Software). Love 'dem compiling & sorting speeds.

Specs:
Intel core i7 3770k @ 4.2GHz (tbc...)
Asus z77 ROG Maximus V Gene
2x EVGA GTX670 Superclocked 4GB edition SLI
G.Skill Ripjaws Z 4x4GB @ 2133MHz
OCZ Agility 3 180GB boot
Western DIgital 2.5" Blue 320GB steam drive
Corsair AX750 PSU w/Corsair sleeved cable kit
Custom water cooling loop as below
Modded Fractal Design Define Mini

Anything I've missed I will add when I think of it.

No storage you say? I store most of my media etc on a 2TB NAS device, the internal memory is pretty much only for program installation.

Water Gear:
EKWB supremacy nickel & acetal
XSPC D5 vario pump
EKWB D5 acetal pump top
2x EKWB GTX670 ref nickel & acetal w/ backplates
EKWB GPU dual serial bridge
XSPC EX360 & EX240 rads
EKWB 140mm multi res
EKWB black nickel compression barbs & fittings
Mayhems biocide & dyes
Koolance 3x120mm black fan shroud
Koolance qwik-disconects
10x Corsair Air series SP120 fans @ 5v

As above, I've probably forgotten something, which I'll add if I remember it.

The only thing left to do at the time of writing this thread was to complete the window mod. I also have some future work I'm considering doing, which I'll talk about later.

Some pics:
My camera is odd & crap, i can't afford a new one for obvious reasons.

This is the case from the outside, the 3x120mm fan shroud was added to make space for one of the rads.
picture.php


A quick view inside the front cover, unused fan controller and my optical drive (Yes, I still use one occasionally)
picture.php


The full internal layout. Anyone who has dealt with a define mini will hopefully appreciate how much junk there is in this trunk... And yes, both of the rads are in push/pull, which allows me to have the fans turned way down. The PSU is unfortunate, but I bought it just before the new AXi series was released (I'd have loved the all red). The clear coolant in the res is an eyesore, but I haven't dyed it yet for a couple reasons.
picture.php


Close up of the CPU, tubing in this space was hard work, and will no doubt be again if I choose to modify that area.
picture.php


GPUs close up, I love the bridge, but it may be going shortly...
picture.php


Holy balls cables. So many cables. While this case has ample space for what would typically go into it, add 3x2.5" drives and a whole lot of extra cables and the space runs out all too quickley. There are 11 fans in this case, plus antennae for the now built in wifi/bluetooth.. that bundle down the right (behind the rad) is more than an inch thick.
picture.php


Quick shot of how it looks in the dark when turned on.
picture.php


What you'll (hopefully) see through the window, once I finish it.
picture.php


No side panel, can see all the lights etc.
picture.php


In future, as well as converting to some new SSDs in R0, I'm probably going to do a bit of re-wiring for the GPUs to tidy that area up, and I'd like to swap the CPU block and GPU bridge to the plexi versions and replace the tubing with clear tubing before dying the coolant red. I really think this will improve the overall aesthetic, and is why I haven't dyed the coolant yet (no point in red tubing & I dont want to soil the acetal blocks if I don't have to).
 
omg LOVE this build! So rare to see well constructed mATX machines these days. Nice clean lines and the right mix of red and black, good job on that!
 
hey bud am just wondering what your temps are full load/idle, as i have plans to watercool my rig next year with a similar sort of setup

thanks
 
hey bud am just wondering what your temps are full load/idle, as i have plans to watercool my rig next year with a similar sort of setup

thanks

With pump at full and fans at 5v (normal operation in my case) gpus idle at ~27 Celsius and cpu idles at ~31 Celcius. I havent done much stress testing, but under gaming load (on my 2560x1440 monitor) i can max any game with temps barely hitting 50 on any component. the only time i stressed the cpu it was at ~75 Celsius if i remember correctly after 10 mins running, but was still slowly rising, that was at 4.6GHz.
 
Ok bud thanks how thick are your rads?

i have a 120.3 and a 120.2, both XSPC EX series. these are thin 35mm thick rads, but very high fin density. basically they need good static pressure fans, preferably push/pull as i have and they perform really quite exceptionally. so yea... your question: 35mm
 
ahh cheers but i dont want to put a 360mm in my rig am just going to go with 2 240mm but one at 80mm thick in pushpull an a 60mm thick one in pull
 
Awesome build.
I really like how everything just seems to fit perfectly. Like all the individual parts were made with this build in mind.
 
Awesome build.
I really like how everything just seems to fit perfectly. Like all the individual parts were made with this build in mind.

not made for it, but as close as i could get to that. it was literally hours and hours of planning, measuring, researching and what not. pleased with the result though.
 
not made for it, but as close as i could get to that. it was literally hours and hours of planning, measuring, researching and what not. pleased with the result though.

It shows.

One thing I would like to see changed, is that last expansion slot cover. I would paint that red to match the rest.
 
It shows.

One thing I would like to see changed, is that last expansion slot cover. I would paint that red to match the rest.

I know, it looks terrible. It is in my upcoming plans, but has to wait while I work on more important things for uni and work... As much as I dislike it, unfortunately my hobby will always take a back seat :rolleyes:
 
Back
Top