Project: Hushboat

[Showboat0099]

Hello everyone, today I'll be posting my current plans for what is near enough a complete system upgrade that will involve a number of firsts for me.

It will be my first time doing the following:
Installing a CPU
Installing water cooling
Making custom cable extensions
Installing system lighting

This project is still in early stages and is open to constant changes and feedback, so be sure to let me know what you think! This PC will be primarily used for gaming and video editing/rendering and is designed to be quiet for overnight operation.

System Budget: ~$2,000

Pre-Owned Components - NOT included in cost calculations
Purchased

Proposed System Components:
Case: Phanteks Enthoo Luxe White
CPU: i7-5820k (Haswell-E LGA 2011-3)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-X99-GAMING G1
RAM: G.SKILL Ripjaws Series DDR4 16GB (4 x 4GB) 2666MHz
GPUs: 2x Nvidia GTX 760 MSI Twin Frozr
SSDs: 2x 96GB Corsair Force 3 Raid 0 behind motherboard tray (OS Primary Drive)
HDD01: 640GB WD Black 7200 RPM (Game Drive, Recording Raw File Drive)
HDD02: 2TB Samsung 5600RPM (Archival)
HDD03: 2TB Seagate 7200RPM (Secondary Game Drive, Rendering Destination Drive)
5.25" Bay: Fan-speed controller, 4 dial

Cooling:
XSPC Raystorm AX360 Kit (40mm thick 360 radiator, cylinder res/d5 pump combo, raystorm cpu water block, 6 compression fittings - tossed, tubing, 3 fans - tossed)
2x EK Thermosphere Acrylic Universal GPU Waterblock
EK Terminal Dual Parallel Block
12x Blue Carbon Compression Fittings (7/16" x 5/8")
3 ft additional tubing
Distilled water with Dead-Water and UV Green Dye.
8x Corsair SP120 LED fans, LEDs disabled

Lighting:
2x 7.75" UV LED strips

Custom Cabling:
8" UV Green/Blue cable extensions - 1x 24 pin, 1x 8 pin EPS, 2x 6 pin, 2x 8 pin PCIe


I'll be ordering the parts that I can currently get on the 22/23rd for pre-install while waiting for the launch of Haswell-E (Likely August 29). The plan is to build it now and swap out the cpu/motherboard/ram with the Haswell-E stuff when that's all released. Let me know what you all think and what changes you would suggest making!

Update 8/16: New plans after giving several hours of more thought into the system. Edited post for better readability.
Update 8/19: Majority of components purchased.
Update 8/20: Memory for the system is now purchased from Newegg. Memory is a 4x4 GB kit from G.Skill's Ripjaws line at 2666MHz and 15-15-15-35 timings, better timings than the Corsair LPX and $30 cheaper, too. Looking forward to TTL's review of his 3000MHz kit.
Update 8/29: Purchased the CPU and motherboard! Looking forward to their arrival. Also, bought different compression fittings, as the ones that came with the watercooling kit are absolute crap with their "low-profile" BS.

 

[TPC]

wait 700bucks aprox. at cpu+ mobo and only two 760's???

 

[Showboat0099]

wait 700bucks aprox. at cpu+ mobo and only two 760's???

The graphics cards are what I have in my current system and will be transferring to the new build. For my current needs and budget, I see no real reason to add a third or fourth.

 

[TPC]

I'd change them for 800 series and try to earn some money

 

[Showboat0099]

I'd change them for 800 series and try to earn some money

I will upgrade my graphics no sooner than the 900 series. The 800 series appears to be focused on more efficient power use than on horsepower increases.

This build is focused on the CPU/Motherboard/RAM and watercooling components and not on graphics performance. My two 760s are more than sufficient for my needs at this time.

 

[TPC]

A well atleast you dont waste money on atercooling them

 

[Showboat0099]

A well atleast you dont waste money on atercooling them

I'm gonna assume you mean that water cooling is inherently not a waste of money, considering in my OP, I wrote the following:

"I will be expanding this kit by getting EK Thermosphere Acrylic universal GPU waterblocks with an EK Terminal dual parallel block to connect them."

Regardless, the waterblocks I'd be getting will likely also be compatible with future high-end Nvidia GPUs, so I'd just be able to transfer them to new ones when necessary.

 

[TPC]

Regardless, the waterblocks I'd be getting will likely also be compatible with future high-end Nvidia GPUs, so I'd just be able to transfer them to new ones when necessary.

I am happy you don't go with custom 760 blocks, thats what I meant

 

[Showboat0099]

I am happy you don't go with custom 760 blocks, thats what I meant

Ah, I see. I couldn't do that anyway, as my cards are not reference and no specialized blocks exist for them.

 

[PacificNic]

I'm excited! This looks like it could be really cool. I'd be interested to see how the rest of the GPU handles not being cooled as the Universal blocks only cool the die (or so I believe).

 

[Showboat0099]

I'm excited! This looks like it could be really cool. I'd be interested to see how the rest of the GPU handles not being cooled as the Universal blocks only cool the die (or so I believe).

That is true, and something I've been considering. Passive heatsinks do exist for those parts, however based on what I've read, I'm not certain if I'd even need them. From what I've been reading, if not overclocking the cards, such heatsinks won't really be needed so long as the case has good airflow. I may get them so that I can overclock, though I haven't really decided yet. There's also some cool pics online of watercooling the small chips with tiny waterblocks and hose, really neat stuff.

Edit: After reviewing my brand of video cards, it seems that there is a plate that covers the VRMs and 3 of the 4 vram modules on the VGA side of the card, with the other 4 vram modules on the back of the card. By the looks of it, there likely won't be much of an issue with heat, and proper airflow will keep things under control. On the airflow front, I have plans in that regard. The case supports having a fan or two on the inside of the hard drive brackets, so that's exactly what I'll be doing to make sure air is getting blown over and between the two cards. This does mean, however, that instead of mounting the res/pump there (with an included mounting bracket), it will be mounted on the back of the case, where there is a place specifically for it.

Project Update 8/19/2014:
Bought the majority of the components today. Made a couple very slight changes: First, the LED light strips no longer had 12" 3-pin connectors for them in stock, so I had to go with 4" ones. Not a problem considering I'm also getting extenders. Second, I switched out the quick-disconnect for a T drain that comes with a cap. This will prevent any flow restriction. Other changes mainly included where I bought stuff from, though the vast majority is coming from FrozenCPU. All of the water cooling and cable components are coming from there. While I considered getting the case from them as well, I saw that huge spike in shipping that would have caused and ended up buying the case and fans from Newegg, as the fans were cheaper with free shipping and the case's shipping was reasonable. I would have gone through Amazon for Prime on the case, however right now they are out of stock for apparently another month or two. Through Amazon, though, I got the 2TB HDD as well as a number of peripherals and supplies. The supplies include a funnel set and double sided tape. The peripherals include a white R.A.T. 7 mouse, a Razer BlackWidow Stealth, and a Corsair Vengeance 2100 Wireless 7.1 headset. These peripherals are not included in my build's budget, but are actually somewhat required, as my current mouse and keyboard are several years old now and my headset is, well, just plain annoying with all of the interference the cord picks up - that and the quality sort of isn't all that wonderful. Anyway, once the parts for the build start to arrive, I'll be posting some pictures of the initial setup. Part of me wants to go and put it all together with my current pc's parts as I wait on Haswell-E's launch, but I'm thinking I'll hold off on it.