It's time for my first waterloop. Even though i won't be building this rig for a while (probably late summer/autumn), you can't start early enough with thinking about color schemes, etc.. So basically i will update this once in a while whenever i have an idea for the build and ask for your opinions.
As my signature unfortunately shows i am currently being tortured by an AMD FX-4100, which massively bottlenecks my GPU, the H60 doesn't give me the temps to overclock well and the mainboard/RAM is kinda crappy as well.
Actually an update is completely unnecessary, i don't play any recent games, i am not hugely involved with editing, i might need it for compiling when i progress to the heavy stuff in school, but i doubt that as well. But i just love building rigs, i love overclocking, i love updating my stuff, i don't build a rig just to work, the building itself is an experience, right?
My current idea of the color scheme is a Gunmetal Grey case with white Rads and blue coolant.
So this is my current plan:
Hardware:
CPU:
Shortly after Haswell releases i will get an i7 4770k, i don't want to do any small upgrades anymore, the 4770k will last me for a while. I won't get one of the first batch because they will have some chipset issues afaik, also the price will drop significantly after a month or two.
GPU:
The GPU i will keep, i might put in a second one, but i didn't choose it for no reason. Say what you want about lower costs and convenience, the short reference 670 board looks like hell and especially with a waterblock it would look bloody awful.
RAM
On RAM i haven't really decided yet, but i won't choose anything under 2133Mhz, 8GB or 16GB i am not sure yet, i have no need for 16GB and i really just need the 2133MHz headroom for overclocking.
Mainboard:
i have no idea yet, i will choose that when they release, most likely something from MSI.
PSU:
The PSU i will keep as well, the AX750 can handle SLi and upgrading it would really just be a huge waste of money. I am most likely going to grab some blue sleeved cables, if i can't find any i might need to get into sleeving myself. At some point i will need to learn it anyways.
Case:
On the case i have done a lot of research and unfortunately you can barely find any that can hold a decent custom loop and don't cost a fortune. I have settled with the Switch810 Gunmetal for now, the 900d is not really in my budget and i don't want more than 2 rads atm either.
Storage:
SSDs and HDDs will stay as they are right now.
Cooling:
CPU Block:
XSPC Raystorm
GPU Block:
XSPC Razor (the 670FTW uses a reference 680 board, so it should fit)
Radiators:
360mm Alphacool nexXxos Monsta white
240mm Alphacool nexXxos Monsta white
Unfortunately Alphacool only offers the 360mm Radiator in white, i have been looking around quite a bit and the only shop i could find that offered a 240mm white Rad was frozencpu, which would mean that i would have to import it from america, which is absolutely not worth it. So i might need to get into painting it myself/look for someone in germany to paint it for me. If that is the case i have some more ideas, maybe two or three 2cm thick blue dashes on the white radiator.
Reservoir:
Definitely a tube res, but i haven't decided on which yet. A bay res would just look weird.
Pump:
D5
Fittings:
haven't looked into that yet
Tubing:
haven't looked into that either
Coolant:
haven't spent a lot of time on this either, but i will probably use blue coolant. i was wondering if there is slightly glowing coolant which works like those stickers you can buy which glow in the dark, that would look amazing.
Fans:
It will most likely be fans with a black frame and blue blade, i might get into coloring some Noctua NF-P12s since i already got one of them, but they are expensive and i'm not sure if it's worth the hassle. I took a look at the new fans from Silverstone, the AP123, but i am not sure if they are any good. I might just be uncreative and settle on SP120 QE, but that is the last option i would choose.
MOSFET and Chipset will most likely not get a block, doesn't seem worth it to me.
I am in a bit of a hurry atm, so forgive me if i forgot something.
Pictures and such will follow when i actually start building.
/update
i have been looking around for some coolant and i think i settled on Mayhems Aurora Tharsis Nebula Silver Blue. It's quite expensive, but i really like it, should be worth the money. I heard there are some problems lately with Mayhems, any reports?
As my signature unfortunately shows i am currently being tortured by an AMD FX-4100, which massively bottlenecks my GPU, the H60 doesn't give me the temps to overclock well and the mainboard/RAM is kinda crappy as well.
Actually an update is completely unnecessary, i don't play any recent games, i am not hugely involved with editing, i might need it for compiling when i progress to the heavy stuff in school, but i doubt that as well. But i just love building rigs, i love overclocking, i love updating my stuff, i don't build a rig just to work, the building itself is an experience, right?
My current idea of the color scheme is a Gunmetal Grey case with white Rads and blue coolant.
So this is my current plan:
Hardware:
CPU:
Shortly after Haswell releases i will get an i7 4770k, i don't want to do any small upgrades anymore, the 4770k will last me for a while. I won't get one of the first batch because they will have some chipset issues afaik, also the price will drop significantly after a month or two.
GPU:
The GPU i will keep, i might put in a second one, but i didn't choose it for no reason. Say what you want about lower costs and convenience, the short reference 670 board looks like hell and especially with a waterblock it would look bloody awful.
RAM
On RAM i haven't really decided yet, but i won't choose anything under 2133Mhz, 8GB or 16GB i am not sure yet, i have no need for 16GB and i really just need the 2133MHz headroom for overclocking.
Mainboard:
i have no idea yet, i will choose that when they release, most likely something from MSI.
PSU:
The PSU i will keep as well, the AX750 can handle SLi and upgrading it would really just be a huge waste of money. I am most likely going to grab some blue sleeved cables, if i can't find any i might need to get into sleeving myself. At some point i will need to learn it anyways.
Case:
On the case i have done a lot of research and unfortunately you can barely find any that can hold a decent custom loop and don't cost a fortune. I have settled with the Switch810 Gunmetal for now, the 900d is not really in my budget and i don't want more than 2 rads atm either.
Storage:
SSDs and HDDs will stay as they are right now.
Cooling:
CPU Block:
XSPC Raystorm
GPU Block:
XSPC Razor (the 670FTW uses a reference 680 board, so it should fit)
Radiators:
360mm Alphacool nexXxos Monsta white
240mm Alphacool nexXxos Monsta white
Unfortunately Alphacool only offers the 360mm Radiator in white, i have been looking around quite a bit and the only shop i could find that offered a 240mm white Rad was frozencpu, which would mean that i would have to import it from america, which is absolutely not worth it. So i might need to get into painting it myself/look for someone in germany to paint it for me. If that is the case i have some more ideas, maybe two or three 2cm thick blue dashes on the white radiator.
Reservoir:
Definitely a tube res, but i haven't decided on which yet. A bay res would just look weird.
Pump:
D5
Fittings:
haven't looked into that yet
Tubing:
haven't looked into that either
Coolant:
haven't spent a lot of time on this either, but i will probably use blue coolant. i was wondering if there is slightly glowing coolant which works like those stickers you can buy which glow in the dark, that would look amazing.
Fans:
It will most likely be fans with a black frame and blue blade, i might get into coloring some Noctua NF-P12s since i already got one of them, but they are expensive and i'm not sure if it's worth the hassle. I took a look at the new fans from Silverstone, the AP123, but i am not sure if they are any good. I might just be uncreative and settle on SP120 QE, but that is the last option i would choose.
MOSFET and Chipset will most likely not get a block, doesn't seem worth it to me.
I am in a bit of a hurry atm, so forgive me if i forgot something.
Pictures and such will follow when i actually start building.
/update
i have been looking around for some coolant and i think i settled on Mayhems Aurora Tharsis Nebula Silver Blue. It's quite expensive, but i really like it, should be worth the money. I heard there are some problems lately with Mayhems, any reports?
Last edited:
h34r:
