Here we go again...(Caution:Noob build thread inside!!!)

[The_Lanbone]

Hey guys, sorry for yet another 'how does this look/sound' thread, but....well what do you guys think haha

I recently came in to a bit more cash than I originally anticipated and decided to scrap the 2600k build I was previously very close to assembling in favor of SB-E (my addiction to F@H played a large role in this). I'm beginning to piece the whole kit together but wanted opinions on the proposed loop which is broken up in 2 stages.

Here's the low-down on 'Stage 1': I've got a super out-dated socket-775 system now with a single GTX465. The plan is my good buddy is donating his EVGA SLI-FTW, 8GB DDR3 1600MHz, and Q6600 to me for FREE

, picking up a 2nd GTX465 for cheap ($90usd so like...60ish gpb?), and getting a good deal on an open-box Corsair 800D (think 650D prices). PSU will be an AX850 and the water cooling will be purchased from a Canadian source XSPC Raystorm "Uber RX360" kit. Basically it's the Raystorm EX360 kit but with a D5S pump and RX rad instead.

The SB-E parts will be bought mid-January (gotta love tax returns!) and installed in the above rig. Gigabyte X79-UD3 and i7-3930K. GPU wise I figure it's best to wait until the Green Team releases their 600-series cards and see how they compare to the soon-to-be released 7000-series. For now the only gaming I do is a LOT of racing sims (mainly F1 2011 and rFactor) so the GTX465's in SLI should get the job done just fine. (These won't be water cooled, only when it comes time to get a new generation card will I be adding the GPU(s) to the loop.

I had a play with MSPaint today just to get a (very) rough idea of how the loop will look, as I can't stand the sloppy hose everywhere mess that I see a lot of CPU/GPU loops have. I want clean, almost minimalist, but with excellent functionality for the rare occasion I feel like running some benchmarks.



Green = The main/starting kit

Blue = What will be added later once a decision is made on GPU(s)

As this will be my first crack at water cooling I'm not sure on a few (ok, a lot) of things. One major one being the cleanliness of the loop vs. functionality/cooling. I am concerned about the long piece of tubing going from the x-flow rad at the bottom up to the res. Will that D5 be strong enough to push through all that? Should I reverse the flow of the loop? I turn to you OC3D water cooling guru's for guidance! I'd love any and all feedback you guys have, constructive or otherwise! hahaha

 

[| raVen |]

I dont think that you will have enought room for 360 rad at the bottom of 800D( but for 240 yes). Why 2011?In my opinion better to go for 1155 if you gaming and not using you rig for rendering video and all that kind of staff. Also its much cheaper

Its better to safe some of your money and buy another GPU.

Why cross flow?Why not to use normal one? You can make a tidy loop with normal rad at the bottom.

D5 gonna be ok for this loop.

Also did you heard that X79 UD3 have some issues with mosfet and when you overclocking you can burn your board

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_Wk4QWHjpc&feature=player_embedded

Action start at 3:47

http://www.specialtech.co.uk/spshop...ted-Fan-Controller--Sentry-Mix-pid-14946.html

really good fan controller.

 

[The_Lanbone]

I did NOT hear that! See this is why I come to the overseas (for me at least) to the UK forums, you guys are full of useful information!

Although I don't do a lot of video rendering, I do on occasion. Mainly for work rendering video depositions, and having a substantially better PC at home really adds credence to my claims that I can "probably get it done faster at home" hahaha My main reason for going SB-E is for folding though. I have recently become quite the folding addict and the almost 50% performance increase from a 2600k in PPD really makes my mouth water. I have a feeling that if I stuck with the 3930K I won't be upgrading processors for quite some time (years) but if I went with a 2500/2600K I would end up upgrading to Ivy Bridge sometime next year anyway. At that point it's looking at a minimum of $600 for the two 1155 CPU's I could have just gone with the hex-core for roughly the same price. (Is this just my blind "logic" trying to justify excessive parts? Maybe! haha)

Regarding the x-flow rad in the bottom I think the only real reason for it would be aesthetics. I don't really like most water cooling friendly cases out there now, and the one thing I hate about the 800D is how sloppy things start to look when you add in a 2nd radiator to the bottom for GPU's. I felt this layout with the cross flow radiator would limit some of the mess of tubes going down and coming back up from that closed off area. My ideal setup would/will be some type of thicker rad down on the bottom using black tubing and no LED fans. I'm picking up a blank (no window) side panel for the 800D that I will mod for ventilation and a window. I would like it to look as factory/sleek as possible.

 

[ruthless_villain]

dont use a 800D; grab a tj07 or a cosmos s2

 

[| raVen |]

dont use a 800D; grab a tj07 or a cosmos s2

Good Idea, you can mount quad rad at the bottom of the tj07 and 360 at the top if you mod it.

 

[ruthless_villain]

a thick 480 and a thick 240 both in the floor of the tj07 will cool your stuff fine imho... as its meant to be a thick 240 for every major heat source

thing is with the tj07 you might want to pay £40 odd quid to get the internals powdercoated and even then you might want to take out the dremel to cut come cable management holes

 

[The_Lanbone]

The only problem is that around here in the US you can't find a TJ07 for under like $300 (used!). That plus the extra cost of pulling the case apart to have the silver bits powdercoated and I'm into the case for a full $350-375 (~ £230) which is just under twice what I'm going to pay for the 800D and the extra blank door. After work on customizing the blank door for window and ventilation and I still think I'll be coming out at least $100 less than the cost if I went with the TJ07. Sadly I am budget limited to a certain extent.

 

[| raVen |]

Ok than go for this 800D and put 360 at the top and 240 at the bottom, 60mm thick and one set of fans of each of them and you will be done.

Also if you want to use crossflow rad you will have to remove front hdd hot swap, witch in my opinion its not the best idea, because its really nice feature of this case, but its your choice.

 

[mayhem]

The only reason why that board blew is the idiot never cooled his vrm's .. that what happens when you dive in to water cooling and add a stupid single rad and try to over clock it like a nutter and dont cool the vrms down as well .... Serves him right and i hope hes doesn't get a RMA.

 

[The_Lanbone]

Do you guys think a 360 and 240 (both 60mm) would be enough to keep a couple 570's in SLI cool along with the 3930k? I don't think I'll be going with 570's, just curious about how much heat that setup would be able to dissipate.

Also: Mayhem, how does one go about getting some of that sexy UV Blood Red in the states?! I've contacted 3 different places in North America and all of them gave me a big fat negative

 

[PEXON]

Theres no way that board would go under relatively normal loads. He'd have to put some silly clocks and voltages to do that to his board. There has only been one case of this shown and how many thousands of UD3's have Gigabyte probably sold, yet you don't hear of any more boards blowing up. I reckon he was being silly and pushing his gear way to far with some silly voltages on measly gear. An Antec Kuhler? It isn't even proper W/C kit.