Project DSV

[Surfie]

Hi peeps,

This is to be my project log for my first water cooling build/modding project.

I'm not sure yet how much modding there will be, but I am planning to at least sleeve my cables.

Anyway, let's start with the name....why DSV? When I was a kid, there was a cool tv show called sea quest DSV, which I used to watch. The submarine was the first vessel designed to go as deep as it could. Since this is my first time water cooling, I figured that it was appropriate.

What will the build be? It is taking my current PC (named the beast), pulling it out of its current chassis (Thermaltake Overseer RX1), placing it into a new case, water cooling it, sleeving the cables, and doing whatever modifications are needed to make the build work/look good.

What I have currently that will be kept:
Asus Rampage IV Extreme - dead. Replacement: ASUS Rampage IV Formula
Pentium 3930k i7
32 gigs RAM (heat spreaders removed for the beast) corsair vengeance
Silverstone 850W PSU - dead. Replacement: Corsair RM 750W PSU
MSI TwinFrozr iii gtx680
2x Samsung 256gb Ssd
1x western digital 2tb mechanical drive
2x Western Digital 1tb mechanical drive
Asus optical drive (I know, old school, but I still use it!)

Bits which are currently on order:
xspc intel water block (Raystorm)
Xspc gpu water block (so, gonna have to take off the frozr fans - exciting)
Noctua thermal goop
Compression fittings (8 at the moment, will probably need more)

Parts yet to order:
Nzxt phantom 630 windowed edition
Xspc tubes
Radiators (not sure which ones yet, leaning towards alpha cool monsta 360 and monsta 240)(Edit: Spelling correction, thanks Raphael)
Xspc pump/res combo (D5 Photon 170)
Cooling fluid (xspc blue or distilled water most likely)
Corsair sp120 fans (quiet edition)
Oh, and the build will not be push pull
...

I think I'm missing some parts above, will fill in as I think of them.

Reason for the build: thermal take case is crap IMO, and also, I really want to do a custom water loops, since the noise of the case fans is annoying me. If I can get it silent, then that will be golden.

Reason for not water cooling the motherboard: at this stage, I would need to order the parts I want for this from overseas, but I'm poor, so I'm doing it piecemeal. It will get done, but not in this initial build.

Is anyone interested in further updates? Or am I just kidding myself?

Edit: The bulk of the kit has finally arrived! Teaser images:

Check out the sexy window!

Woah! This thing DWARFS my dining table!

Photo update! 28-12-2013:
Radiators, fans and case, oh my!

Item needing to be modded:

My first mod, also my first dremel cut!

Fits like a glove:

Looks roomy enough:

Out of focus CPU money shot:

But there's no room for the Photon 170!

The Photon 170 itself:

Cable Mismanagement:

Fittings on:

First two tubes installed:

Next bit:

Fourth run:

Final piece:

Offcuts:

Leak Testing

Update tubing, res positioning, hard drives, motherboard, and lighting

And the cursory night shot:

I think that this will soon be eligible to enter into the Night shots thread...

 

[Raphael]

For the radiators you said monstrance? You mean monsta, the 80mm thick ones right? I don´t have the money to watercool my pc yet but I'm considering the monsta 360 too. I think they're great.
Consider me subbed, I want to see what you will do in your first attempt to watercooling.

 

[Tripp]

subbed

 

[Bartacus]

Not to nit pick, but I'd choose better fans. The Corsair QEs look nice, but don't move much air. I tried 3 of those and found them to be awful performers, and not so quiet. There are many better options than those, but I can't recommend good "quiet" options since I opted for noisier Gentle Typhoon AP45s for my Monstas. They run pretty quiet at half-speed, but when you crank them up to full, they sound like hovercraft.

You can't really go wrong with Monstas, but be aware that they're LARGE (as I'm sure you know). Better make sure the case can fit those before buying them. If your goal is "quiet", you could get a slimmer Alphacool model, like a UT60/UT45, and fitment would be much easier. The Monstas only perform better than the UT60 with high-RPM fans, so you may not get the performance benefit if you're going to run the fans at low speed. Going slimmer will save you some cash and some possible headache.

One last thing: if you're considering an XSPC bay reservoir / pump combo, be aware that vibration can sometimes be an issue for those, and earlier version 1 acetal models have serious leak issues. Version 2 acetal models supposedly solve those problems. It seems like most people that buy bay reservoirs end up regretting it (myself included), as they can be tough to do neat tube runs with, bleeding / draining can be a bit tricky, etc. But that's all subjective. They *do* offer a neat way to hide the pump out of the way.

Good luck on the build!

 

[Surfie]

For the radiators you said monstrance? You mean monsta, the 80mm thick ones right? I don´t have the money to watercool my pc yet but I'm considering the monsta 360 too. I think they're great.
Consider me subbed, I want to see what you will do in your first attempt to watercooling.

Thanks for pointing that out. I typed the original post on an iPad, and the autocorrect was really killing me. I thought I captured most of them, but missed those ones - great pick up.

Not to nit pick, but I'd choose better fans. The Corsair QEs look nice, but don't move much air. I tried 3 of those and found them to be awful performers, and not so quiet. There are many better options than those, but I can't recommend good "quiet" options since I opted for noisier Gentle Typhoon AP45s for my Monstas. They run pretty quiet at half-speed, but when you crank them up to full, they sound like hovercraft.

You can't really go wrong with Monstas, but be aware that they're LARGE (as I'm sure you know). Better make sure the case can fit those before buying them. If your goal is "quiet", you could get a slimmer Alphacool model, like a UT60/UT45, and fitment would be much easier. The Monstas only perform better than the UT60 with high-RPM fans, so you may not get the performance benefit if you're going to run the fans at low speed. Going slimmer will save you some cash and some possible headache.

Well, my two options were the Corsair or the Noctua NF-F12s. Based on appearance, the Corsairs win out of those two. Will check out the Gentle Typhoons. Good point with the Monsta rads, and the 45 and 60's are my backup plan, it really is just dependent upon what will fit.

One last thing: if you're considering an XSPC bay reservoir / pump combo, be aware that vibration can sometimes be an issue for those, and earlier version 1 acetal models have serious leak issues. Version 2 acetal models supposedly solve those problems. It seems like most people that buy bay reservoirs end up regretting it (myself included), as they can be tough to do neat tube runs with, bleeding / draining can be a bit tricky, etc. But that's all subjective. They *do* offer a neat way to hide the pump out of the way.

Yeah, i've not been a fan of the whole bay res thing. Don't get me wrong, it can be convenient, but the points you have already made, were already known to me - and are a large reason why I didn't just get one of the XSPC kits - almost all of which have that bay res. As you will see in my edited post, i'm getting the D5 Photon 170, note 100% sure where I will mount it, but I think it is a much better way to go.

Thanks for the feedback! Glad i've got some interest!

Edit:
The water blocks and compression fittings arrived. Photos will be posted when I get home, and have a chance to unbox them. I will also provide photos of my current rig and set up.

The next order is almost certainly going to be the radiator(s), fans, tubes and pump. This will likely be placed either late this week, or early next week. The final order will be the case and any bits and pieces I have missed on the way through. I expect that order to be done in late november/early december. In the mean time, I will be busy, sleeving cables, and planning/preparing tube runs. So fear not! Work will still be being done!

------------------------------------

Photo Update:

First an couple of shots showing the view of my current rig through the window:

Now, with the lights in the room turned off:

Thirdly, a shot "showcasing" the Overseer RX-1 (the silver case next to it, is my old one: Lian Li PC60)

..And with lights off:

Got the water blocks for CPU and GPU, along with 8 compression fittings. Picture of them is below:

Last thing, this is a quick and dirty overview of what I am thinking in terms of Radiator layout. Black outline shows the PSU/Motherboard locations, Red are locations which are final (well, more or less) for the CPU, GPU and 360 Radiator, the green are locations for 240 Rad or Pump/Res combo to be mounted. I have not put it to ANY sort of scale (quick and dirty, yeah?), but it should give a good insight to where i'm aiming to go with this.

Now, I am looking for some arty types who would like to create a logo for this build/project. If you would like to throw up some logos for consideration, it would be appreciated. I can't really pay you (I did say I was poor, right?), but I would be willing to give credit/thanks where it is due. If you don't want to participate, that's fine too. It's just an opportunity to get involved for those who wish to!

 

[Surfie]

Update:
I have decided (against my own wishes actually) against sleeving my ATX power supply and PCI Express cables, and instead purchasing extension cables for these. There were quite a few factors in this decision, the main ones being: the complexity of my PCI-Express cables (they have a capacitor on two of the wires in each cable for some reason - which makes sleeving them, with the sleeving I have really tough), the length of the PCI-Express cables (they are quite short, to the point that I would not be able to route them through the cable management holes properly WITHOUT the extensions), and the complexity of the ATX connector: which quite often has multiple wires running into a single connector. Still possible to do it, but I struggle to convince myself of why to do it, when I can achieve the same result for a $24 outlay, and save myself that time in the process.

Having said that, any other cables will be sleeved by me, it is only these three cables.

Also, on the fan front, now that I have seen a few guides on how to dye the Noctua fans, they are very much back on the cards as options against the Corsairs and Gentle Typhoons. The way I see it:

Corsair: Cheapest fan of the lot, supposedly whisper quiet, and (according to Toms review) very good performers. No customisation needed.

Noctua: Most expensive fan of the three, butt ugly without modding (which I will be doing if I go this route), and are arguably the best performers:noise level of the three options (I say arguably, because Tom reckoned that the Corsairs were actually quieter, whilst I have heard mixed reviews)

Gentle Typhoons: Probably the loudest of the options overall, but they also have the ability to be wound up much faster than either of the other options, should I need to (which I doubt I will). Mid range in terms of cost per fan, would also need to be painted to match with the scheme I am aiming for with this build.

What do you guys think I should go for?

 

[Surfie]

Project status: On hold until 6th December 2013 due to work sending me overseas (and thus, away from my PC) for a month and a bit. Updates to follow shortly after I get back however. Stay tuned!

 

[Surfie]

Order is being placed for the bulk of the kit so that it will all be ready and waiting for me when I get back home from Thailand.

Kit that is being ordered:

Xspc compression fittings x 4
Xspc rotary 90 degree fittings x 4
Xspc rotary 45 degree fittings x 6
Xspc photon 170 pump/res combo
Alphacool ut60 240mm radiator
Alphacool ut60 360mm radiator
Primochill 7/16 tubing (red) x 2m
Xspc red led x 3
Nzxt phantom 630 windowed black
Corsair sp120 quiet edition x5
2 x dust filters
Primochill liquid utopia

I based my decision re: the fans on cost at this point. If I'm not happy with the sound of them, I'll get different ones later.

Hopefully the next post I make in here will show what I am building!

Cheers!

EDIT:
Wouldn't you know it? I'm gone for a month, I place the order the day before I go, and the suppliers still CBF delivering on time. Current ETA is Tuesday next week - at best. Le sigh!

Edit #2:
Now they are saying it will ship tomorrow. Blaming customs now. Heh. I'm not surprised. Disappointed, but not surprised.

 

[Surfie]

IT'S HERE!!!!IT'S HERE!!!!IT'S HERE!!!!IT'S HERE!!!!IT'S HERE!!!!IT'S HERE!!!! After waiting for MORE than 1 month, my kit is FINALLY here!

Teaser images for now, real images of all the kit to follow in a couple of days. Build to start on Friday night my time (Friday morning, your time, for those in the US or UK).

Check out the sexy window!

Woah! This thing DWARFS my dining table!

 

[mehere]

you got it then
love the excitement of new toys

 

[Remmy]

Looking forward to it mate

 

[Surfie]

The case is so big, that I'm struggling to come up with a configuration for it which doesn't have it sitting on the floor!

 

[Remmy]

I have to live with reduced desk space because I refuse to have it on the floor xD You wouldn't be able to see it very well, and it would get dustier lol

 

[Surfie]

Ok, after trying out a test fit, there is some mixed news.

The good news is that the case is great to work with, and I would heartily recommend it to anyone doing this type of water cooling. BUT be prepared to mod the case of you have a mechanical hard drive. ... Or stick it in a 5.25"bay. In this case I'm going the modding route.

This case can't take a 60mm thick rad in the front without losing all the hdd bays. So, the options are, bottom mounting the rad, and using the Tarzan hard drive from optical Bay method. Mod the case reducing the hdd plate by about 50%. Our Mount the hdd in an optical bay.

Due to my planned loop layout, I cant see the Tarzan method working. So modding it is!

Edit:
Completed the base build and hit a few snags. Firstly, where the bloody hell can I place the pump/res? It seems that there is nowhere that it can actually fit!

Second snag was caused by Alphacool using those hexagonal screws, but not providing the tool to use with them. Stupid huh? Worked around this using a socket screw driver, but still less than impressed.

 

[Surfie]

Update:
Installed the pump, completed the tubing runs, did some (very) minor preparation for cable management and started running the water through the loop.

For those that are curious, I put the pump somewhere I really didn't want to: in front of the gpu above the psu. I wanted to avoid this spot as it forces me to use two long runs in the loop, but the only other option required me to figure out how to mount extra metal in my case, and given my tools, this was not really viable.

Picture update will be here very soon, but for now a question:

Is it normal for a water loop to make strange noises once nearly filled? What I am noticing is that sometimes the pump will run completely silent, for a minute or so, then some strange noises will start coming out of the loop (to wit: gurgles, trickles and even some noises I can't really describe) for a while then it'll go silent again. At this point it is about 2 hours after the last major fill phase (so I know that I have most of the major air bubbles out but some micro bubbles are still working their way through the system. ). Is it normal? Can I expect silence from the pump at some point?

 

[Surfie]

Photo update!
Radiators, fans and case, oh my!

Item needing to be modded:

My first mod, also my first dremel cut!

Fits like a glove:

Looks roomy enough:

Out of focus CPU money shot:

But there's no room for the Photon 170!

The Photon 170 itself:

Cable Mismanagement:

Fittings on:

First two tubes installed:

Next bit:

Fourth run:

Final piece:

Offcuts:

Leak Testing

Now, this is (quite clearly) not complete. I still need to manage the cables (properly), install the LEDs into the various components, run the fan cables (for now off motherboard, but will later run off the fan controller (need extra cables to do this ), to say nothing of finishing off the 24 hour leak test, and testing to ensure that the parts are all installed correctly. Stay tuned!

 

[Surfie]

Results of benchmark testing.

For the purposes of these tests, the case was fully re assembled and the fans were set to the lowest setting that the fan controller can go to. Old setup results are listed first, then the current setup.

OCCT 4.4.0:
Cpu: 3930K @ 4.1 GHz (1.2 volts)
Old setup (h100i cooler)
Temp of hottest core: 70
Ambient: 20
Delta: 50

New setup (custom water)
Temp of hottest core: 61
Ambient: 23
Delta: 38

Heaven Bench
Old: twin frozr iii air cooler (gtx680)
Ambient: 22
Temp: 63
Res: 1440x900
Settings: all ultra
Delta: 41

New: xspc waterblock for gtx 680
Ambient: 23
Temp: 41
Settings: ultra
Res: 1920x1080 (yep, I upped it)
Delta: 18

I knew that gpus love being water cooled, but I had no idea how much they loved it until now.

Still to come: photos of the cable management (or lack there of), the finished (for now) rig, and future plans.

 

[Conchubair]

wait, where are the fans for the top rad? on the outside?
planning on sleeving the cables at the psu end?

love the xspc blocks though!(kinda a xspc fan here)
coming together well surfie

 

[Surfie]

wait, where are the fans for the top rad? on the outside?
planning on sleeving the cables at the psu end?

love the xspc blocks though!(kinda a xspc fan here)
coming together well surfie

Yeah, there isn't enough clearance on my motherboard for fans to be mounted in the case (sadly), so they are in the roof cavity, pulling air through the rad and exhausting out the top of the case.

As for cable sleeving at the PSU end, at the moment, i'm not really sure. I want to make it look awesome, so I probably will, but it will likely be a project for as and when I get time, as with the side panel on, you can't see the cables at all.

More likely, what I will do is make up a panel to cover the cables as they come out of the PSU, this will be easier, and quickly achieves the wanted result.

 

[d3rrial]

Its a really nice system, I like it.

I know I'm in no way qualified to criticize you, as I'm not watercooling myself at the moment, but what is looking a bit odd to me are those long hose-runs. I know that thats mostly because the case is so huge, but I think it might've looked slightly better, if the res was moved to the right, between the front rad and the rest of the system, where the huge clearing is at the moment

Following your thread now, btw.

I would probably also have turned the top rad around, so that the fittings are on the right and instead of going from the front rad to the cpu, I would've gone front rad -> top rad -> cpu -> gpu -> reservoir/pump -> front rad

But that is just my opinion, keep in mind that I have no experience with watercooling, I just think that it might look nice, optically