Labour of Love-Watercooling a HAF 922

[kkorky]

My little project, just to prove that with a little effort, even smaller size cases can be tastefully (imho) watercooled-enjoy

Computer Components

Case- Coolermaster Haf 922

Power Supply - Coolermaster 700W Silent Pro

Motherboard - MSI Z68A-GD65 (G3)

Processor - i5 2500k

Graphics - EVGA GTX 460 FPB

Memory- Corsair XMS 3 2GB x 4

Storage - 4x noisy HDD (2 x Seagate 500GB & 2 x WD 500GB)

Watercooling Components

Reservoir - EK-Multioption RES X2 - 250 Advanced

Pump - Aquastream XT Ultra (got it for only 58 Eu BRAND NEW)

Waterblock - XSPC Raystorm

Radiator - XSPC EX240 w/ push/pull (push 12cm slimline Scythe slipstream 1200 rpm x 2-due to the case constrictions) (pull Scythe GT 1850 rpm x 2 mounted on top)-im still playing around/testing the use of push/pull-the jury is still out at the moment.

Tubing - Primochill LRT clear (10mm ID - 13mm OD)

Fittings - EK Black + 2 x 45 degrees Aquacomputer fittings

Fluid - Distilled Water + PT Nuke/silver kill coil

Loop Order

Reservoir -> Pump -> Radiator -> CPU ->Reservoir

Extras

Accelero Twin Turbo II gpu cooler-(its great with very low temps 45-50 under load & occed)

Kingston Ram cooler

Shoggy sandwich(pump anti vibration pad)

Lamptron fan controller FC5 V2

Coolermaster ' 4 in 3' (allows you to place 4 x hdd in 3 drive bay space-comes with 120 mm coolermaster blue led fan-imo i should have got the Lian Li one instead, but that point is moot now since ssds will be the way to go)

Things that ive lost

Skin off my knuckles (try working in such confined spaces lol) and ***** loads of patience at times

BEFORE

AFTER

UPDATE

Added:

2x EK-VGA Supreme HF Bridge Edition - Acetal-2nd one will be mounted when my 2nd card arrives

-ive also ordered 1x EK-FC Bridge DUAL Parallel 3-Slot

1x XSPC RX 120 Radiator

1x GT 1850 rpm

Changed clear Primochill clear lrt -> UV Blue Primochill lrt tubing (10/13mm)

Added 2 x Koolance Quick release fittings (2 x male/female) to enable easy removal of top radiator for cleaning.

Added 120cm Phobya High intensity UV led strip.

Added UV Blue 120 Gelid Wing as exhaust fan

Changed Sata 2 cables to Sata 3 cables-for the immanent arrival of new SSD drives.

8x Enzotech copper vrm heatsinks

2x 90 degree EK fittings (Black)

2x 45 degree EK fittings (Black)

2x Jon Lund Reservoir Lighting plugs-they are phenomenal, they make all the other ones out there look like........

Footnote: excuse the cables that are visible, i had to rush the photos

OPEN CASE-STOP THE PRESS-DOORSTOPS MAKE KICKA** CASE FEET!! Just kidding, they are a temporary solution till my MNPCTech Set of 4 Diamond Knurl Case Feet Black arrive

WITH CASE PANEL

WITH UV LIGHTS ON -Lights are controlled by spare channel in my fan controller-gives full control (see begining of post post for Fan Controller info)

EPILOGUE

At times i must admitt that i wanted to chuck it all in and get a larger case, but with some minor mods and bucket loads of patience, i was able to do mod my HAF 922-my only regret is buying my H80, aftermarket gpu cooler etc-basically i should have gone straight to water cooling instead of the 'pitstop' that i took. 'Ok Muttley, time to figure out how to get rid of the unused gear'

 

[FTLN]

Like it a lot,, nice build.. You sure you need that ram cooler, looks ugly ?? would be nice to a comparison shot without...

 

[AciD_RaiN]

It's true that the RAM cooler looks bad but otherwise awesome

Love the purple

 

[kkorky]

So my laziness crept up and bit me in the a**!

I had in fact removed the Ram Cooler, and added the case feet i had previously mentioned. I also rigged up a neat little PCB cooling option using one of the slimline Sycthes that i previously removed-it helps on very hot days.

When my Card arrives, i'll be able to run the system in SLI and introduce the other water block and Bridge system.

Just some minor cable sleeving left to be done- especially the PCB fan cable & 8 Pin ATX PSU cable, then i'm finished-or so i like to believe, but you guys out there know better don't you ;-)

That having been said, thank you for taking time out to provide feedback and im happy you've liked my little effort.

UPDATE #2

 

[tharionos]

mmmmmmm me likes alot

nice HAF mod m8

especially like the UV mode

 

[Computer crazy]

Very nice system, nice clean build. Good job, looking forward to seeing finished pics.

 

[Pr3d4t0r]

have haf 922 myself and was thinking of something like this myself, its a pain in the ass to rivet out the hdd bay though, btw did you just shove the hdds on double tape into the dvd bays?

ive seen another guy that managed to fit the pump/res next to hdd bay, bit tight but it still looked great

 

[kkorky]

mmmmmmm me likes alot

nice HAF mod m8

especially like the UV mode

Very nice system, nice clean build. Good job, looking forward to seeing finished pics.

Thank you both for your comments-much appreciated

have haf 922 myself and was thinking of something like this myself, its a pain in the ass to rivet out the hdd bay though, btw did you just shove the hdds on double tape into the dvd bays?

ive seen another guy that managed to fit the pump/res next to hdd bay, bit tight but it still looked great

I am using a '4 in 3' hdd case-if you scroll up and look under the EXTRAS heading, the finer details are listed. But i will be removing it soon and going with 2x SSD and ill just keep 2 x HDD to store movies, music etc.

The link shows my rig as it progressed.

Link:http://www.overclock.net/t/1223466/...rs-who-dont-fancy-doing-too-much-case-modding

It is a mini build log that shows what i did before i powdercoated the rig etc.

 

[kkorky]

Very nice system, nice clean build. Good job, looking forward to seeing finished pics.

Thanks- im sort of stuck between two worlds atm -apart from doing the easy mods (sleeving etc), im toying with the idea of removing my card/universal block etc and selling them, i should get a very good price seeing as they are less than 3 months old. Then i would buy a GTX 570 or GTX 580 since the prices are dropping and use a full cover wb on it.

Money though as always is the restricting factor, maybe i'll find a used card in good condition that hasn't been occd-i live in hope

 

[mihapiha]

wow that does look great. awesome work indeed!

 

[killablade]

Lookin good, very unique with those colours..

 

[dipzy]

Great system you have there with clean cable management, nice one

 

[skullen]

Very very nice.

 

[Polo]

Really nice the way this is laid out, i would like to show this to the guys on the other forum im on, but for that i would need permission as i only add the links to Tom's videos.. there are guys there that would appreciate the work that goes into these machines..

Nice rig.

 

[kkorky]

wow that does look great. awesome work indeed!

thank you-it was more a journey of learning and discovery as opposed to work, but i know what you mean

Lookin good, very unique with those colours..

thank you-ill tell you a secret, i must confess that i never set out to get that purple hue, i was really looking for a UV effect, but it seems that the black powdercoating reflects the UV light and takes on a subtle purple colour, of which i am very pleased with-i used a Phobya 120cm high density UV led strip.

Great system you have there with clean cable management, nice one

thanks alot, im nearly there with the cable management (98% done) but i still have a few loose ends to tie up.

Very very nice.

Thank you as well

Really nice the way this is laid out, i would like to show this to the guys on the other forum im on, but for that i would need permission as i only add the links to Tom's videos.. there are guys there that would appreciate the work that goes into these machines..

Nice rig.

My thanks to you as well-ive really appreciated the time that people have taken to view my efforts and truly appreciate the kind feedback-which leads me onto your comment: my reply is very simple-i have looked at many rigs when trying to get inspration and ideas as to what direction i would head when building this rig. I also gained alot of advice and information from other people that had built their own water cooling rigs, so i have no problem with you copying my photos and sharing them around, its not just about take, but also giving-so knock yourself out-just refer them to my e mail address that is listed in my info if they need any advice or anything similar, and as for sponsorship for my next project, the same applies

 

[mundivalur]

Shine UV lights like a lot

 

[Mrboxfacetramp]

Nice Mod and looks better without the ram-cooler ;]

 

[Goldskis45]

Personally I think the ram cooler looked just fine, but anyway, nice compact build man.