Déjà vu - Liquid Cooled SMA8 with a twist

[Costas]

Hi to you all from DownUnder....!

Déjà vu was completed earlier this year, however I only stumbled in OC3D'd forum the other month so I have decided to post up a build thread for our friends primarily based in or around the UK. In particular those who frequent OC3D and may not venture much further than here....

I'm not new to water cooling and have dabbled with it over the years since around the early 90's.

Here is an old pic of mine - pretty messy huh...! Water cooling was fairly unique in those days and in many instances we had to cobble up our own bits and pieces.

Back in 2014 I built a water cooled Corsair 900D - A fairly minimalistic affair basically just to get my feet wet once again after a long hiatus from liquid cooling over a number of years.

Roll on into late 2015 and I decided to get serious in regards to carrying out a 'proper... B)' water cooled build incorporating hardline.

My heart was set around the Caselabs SMA8 which has a similar form factor to my previous 900D build and one that I wanted to stick with for now.

So with some ideas in mind - I bit the bullet and purchased a Caselabs SMA8 to commence Déjà vu.

The name Déjà vu came about since many other builds have been based on SMA8 cases previously (which no doubt you guys have been bored to death with) but I wanted to set mine apart somewhat with what I consider to be some unique build attributes.



So with all that out of the way lets get started...:

Note that this build is not sponsored in anyway - damn, had to pay full ticket for all the items... :nopity:

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Contents:

Case: Caselabs SMA8 with 39mm extended top & lower pedestal options.
Reservoirs: XSPC 270 Photons x2 - Modified for improved performance and configured for parallel operation.
Radiators: Alphacool Monsta 560 (Lower Pedestal), Alphacool UT60 560 (Mid Section), Alphacool XT45 560 (Top - requires case modding).
Pumps and Top: Aquacomputer D5 USB x2 matched to EK Dual CSQ Top for serial connection of pumps.
WC/Fan Controller: Aquaero 6XT - Coolant Flow to be monitored with MPS400 sensor and mechanical rotameter.
Fittings: Bitspower Silver Shining utilised throughout build. 16mm Bitspower hardline/acrylic dual O-ring compression style fittings (BP-EML16) for mating to acrylic tube.
Tubing: Bitspower 16mm OD, 12mm ID acrylic.
Fans: 24x Phantek PH-F140MP fans
Waterblocks: EK Supremacy EVO Nickel + 2x EK FC780


Main PC Hardware:

Motherboard: ASUS ROG Maximus VIII Formula
CPU: Intel I7-6700K
Memory: Corsair Dominator DDR4 4x8GB @ 3200
GPUs: 2x EVGA 980Ti Classifieds
SSD: Samsung 950 PRO NvMe M.2 - 512GB
HD: WD Black 2x 2TB
Power Supply: Corsair AX1500i
Internal USB Hub: NZXT IU01 - for Aquaero and associated USB components


Here is a complete list of all the Bitspower fittings used within Déjà vu:

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As you might guess, Déjà vu is built using straight tubing with couplings. I'm not a huge fan of bent tubing. While I can appreciate the clean flowing lines one can achieve by bending acrylic tubing I specifically wanted a straight vertical/horizontal look for my tubing runs to give it that tough industrial type stance.

Stay tuned for more to come....

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[Costas]

The Caselabs SMA8 is designed to carry 560 sized rads in its lower bowels but only a 480 sized rad up top.

I really wanted to install a 560 rad up top so the top section required enlarging. With some careful measuring and cutting, one can indeed fit a 560 sized rad up top with room to spare.

Stock setup:

A few minutes later with jigsaw and files, results in this:
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Alphacool XT45-560 positioned under the lid...
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[Costas]

Fan choice came down to the relatively new EK Varder series Vs Phantek's MP series.

I ended up opting for the Phantek PH-F140MP fans as these had IMO a much smoother/quieter fan profile when I tested them against the Varders while pushing around the same airflow figures.

I was aiming in keeping the fans running between 500 to 800 RPM max. thereby resulting in a whisper quiet setup.

One thing I was mindful was to ensure that the fans were not solidly mounted up against anything. This is simply to keep the majority of vibrations damped which can help keep sound levels muted somewhat - especially since I am running 24 fans.

The Phanteks PH-F140's are supplied with some soft foam rubber padding in their frame corners however they do not feature any vibration isolation features for the actual screws. So once mounted, the corner pads are of limited use in that the screws themselves can simply transmit vibes from the fan case directly to whatever the screws are screwed into.

My solution was to enlarge the fan mounting screw holes so that they would accept suitably sized silicone tubing.

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The mounting screws are first inserted into the silicone tubing which acts as a sleeve. This complete assembly is then inserted into the enlarged fan frame mounting holes.

Once the screw is tightened a little, the silicone expands slightly thereby securing the fan frame.
At all times the screw itself is isolated from the frame, only the silicone tubing directly contacts the fan frame.

Fan fully secured and fully isolated.....

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[Costas]

Déjà vu runs a dual reservoir configuration but within a single loop design.

The reservoirs are configured for true parallel operation.

This allows me to achieve a symmetrical layout within the case which suits the aesthetics and at the same time (as a bonus) it halves the restriction that a single reservoir presents.

The reservoirs chosen are XSPC's Photon 270 reservoirs. I like these due to their central illumination rod, their solid mounting bracket and most of all due to their glass outer cylinder.

The two Photons are modified to greatly improve their bleeding performance. I modified them by adding a short Bitspower Aquapipe assembly inside each reservoirs.



Below are a few pics of the smaller sized photon which is a test bench reservoir that I modified some time ago.

Once the mounting bracket is removed the end caps can be simply unscrewed revealing internal O-Ring seals and the central frosted acrylic rod etc:

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[Costas]

Modification consists of cutting an internal keyway for the addition of a Bitspower Aquapipe-1.


Bitspower Aquapipe-1:

Keyway cut into the internal end baffle of the central acrylic rod assembly:

Aquapipe attached to end cap:

Glass cyclinder now re-attached:

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Modified Photon reservoir undergoing final pressure testing:

Undergoing flow rate testing:
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One of Déjà vu's Photon 270 reservoirs modified with 'Silver Shining' Aquapipe-1.

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[Costas]

One of the unique features of my build (IMO...) was the inclusion of a fully fledged rotameter.

From the outset I wanted to include a visual flow meter device that was a tad more 'engineering' focused than the traditional 'cosmetic' spinning wheel types commonly seen in other builds - So a rotameter was duly purchased and the loop layout designed around that.

Just making sure everything will fit and marking out before firing up my drill....

As I had chosen to opt for 16mm OD tubing, Bitspower do not manufacture a single piece 90 deg elbow for hardline - Users need to assemble them from 3 individual components.

Here were my choices:

I ended up selecting the 'bulkier' L-Block on the right but in Silver Shining.



Start of plumbing for the reservoirs - Top balance tube interconnecting both reservoirs for true parallel operation.

This balance tube is primarily only for pressure equalisation across both reservoirs however it will also function as my primary fill port channel.

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[Costas]

2x Modified XSPC reservoirs configured for parallel operation and Rotameter installed...!

You may note that the reservoirs and rotameter are offset to the left of the main motherboard panel (as much as physically possible allowing for video card length).

This is intentional so that the RHS reservoir will still be fully visible through the acrylic window with the main door closed otherwise it would be partially blocked from view by the door frame. The Caselabs door frame is quite wide over on the far RHS (due to its handle etc) and it obscures a reasonable amount of the internal view.

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[Costas]

View at the rear of the main panel.

First up was the fill port setup - With a bit of luck the fill port lined up with a factory cutout in the top of the SMA8. A small square shaped piece of scrap aluminium allowed me to mount a Bitspower pass-through neatly on the top.

An Aquaero MPS400 differential pressure sensor was also installed which allows me to monitor my flow electronically.

At this point I had also pressurised the installed components to 10PSI - much easier to find a leak when testing in sections as I build rather than when the loop is totally finished.
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[Davva2004]

Looks amazing, top job!

 

[Costas]

Looks amazing, top job!

Thanks...glad you are enjoying the build.

I'll have some more pics up shortly.

 

[The_Governour]

damn, that looks insane! A question, wasnt there a new Case from CaseLab that could hold 3 560 rads or more???

 

[Costas]

damn, that looks insane! A question, wasnt there a new Case from CaseLab that could hold 3 560 rads or more???

The Caselabs STH10 will fit them however I do not really like the main motherboard section of the STH10 as its designed to accept the much larger & less common HTPX sized motherboards.

This makes that main case area much harder to fill with 'bits' and it can easily result in a an empty looking build. The SMA8 IMO has a better proportioned main section.

...and thanks for your praise....!

 

[Costas]

.......a few more components added

Alphacool XT45-560 sized rad up top now installed as well as an Alphacool UT60-560 in the mid chamber.

Phantek PH-F140MP fans setup for push pull operation.

That long vertical tube run on the far LHS forms the connection between the lower rads and the top rad - Coolant flow will be in the upward direction to the top rad through this tube.

That small length of tube running horizontally off to the right (at the base of the vertical tube) is there to provide symmetry to the rest of the plumbing which you will see in later build shots.

Not much room between the top reservoir plumbing and the fans - Just enough to get in there with a hex ball driver and secure or remove/replace fans if ever required.
From memory there was around 5mm or so of room to play with so my res setup and pass-throughs etc had to be marked out fairly accurately before drilling to allow for the top rad and its lower fans which protrude into the main case chamber.

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[Costas]

At this point in time I had to knock up some form of mounting bracket for my dual pump assembly.

The base cover on the Caselabs case is manufactured from thin gauge aluminium and is not designed to have heavy pumps etc mounted on it.

So I found some scrap 3mm thick aluminium and kitted it out with small right angle brackets.

This allowed me to position the bracket within the framework of the SMA8 quite securely.

Here it is mounted within the build's mid section (pedestal was not attached at this point) - With EKWB dual D5 pump housing mounting holes drilled.

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[Costas]

EK's Dual D5 CSQ pump top kitted out with a pair of Aquacomputer USB D5's.

I reckon this was one of the very last Dual D5 CSQ pump tops in captivity when I installed it. Unfortunately these fantastic performing tops are no longer available.

Mounted inside the mid section of my build:

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[Costas]

Next step was to install the third and lowest 560 rad into the lower pedestal section.

Once that was complete a drain valve was installed which required a small bracket so that the Bitspower valve is securely held in place.

This provides for an easy no mess/fuss drain setup as I simply unclip the lower RHS SMA8 side cover and undo the stop plug, screw in a hose then drain away.....

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[Costas]

A bit of detail around the interconnection from the mid Alphacool UT60-560 rad to the lower Alphacool Monsta-560 rad.

As the lower rad is much thicker I had to also incorporate a horizontal offset in the interconnection for it all to line up.

Room was tight as the Caselabs power supply support bracket butts up right up close to all these fittings (approx 2 to 3mm clearance). Thankfully there was just enough clearance between the fans and power supply support bracket for it to all work out OK.

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[Costas]

Build so far amounted to this......

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[Costas]

The rotameter is a central feature and I wanted to ensure that it it was highlighted when running the rig.

As it comes with no lighting as such I pondered on the best method to give it some pop.

I was originally toying with the idea of drilling into the rotameter's perspex body and then placing some LEDs into the holes but I was not too keen on that idea.

In the end I used a high brightness CREE 'star' type LED which i mounted on a small heatsink.

These are extremely bright and I had to modify the small switchmode driver circuit to drop its drive current to provide a suitable brightness otherwise this just one LED acts as a super bright spotlight that can illuminate the entire SMA8's interior...


CREE 'STAR' LED mounted on a small heatsink:

To provide a wide and even illumination pattern - I added a small square shaped 'stepped' reflector to the entire assembly.

This results in a much better illumination pattern and it also shades the main LED source which results in the rotameter looking like it is actually back-lit.

A quick test run on the bench before installing it into the rig: The LED assembly is simply attached to the bottom of the rotameter via a thin strip of double-sided tape.

Mounted and running in the SMA8. I underexposed the shot to try and give you a better representation of what it actually looks like to the naked eye.

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[Costas]

Added two more Bitspower valves to facilitate complete draining of coolant in areas which would normally have coolant get 'stuck' due to uphill/vertical runs of my tubing.

The valve pictured below comes in really handy as when using this valve I can simply drain the top rad, CPU and GPU blocks without having to empty my reservoirs or bottom two rads.

Therefore the majority of coolant is not required to be drained if I just need to remove the CPU or GPU's...!

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