Project: Stuffed CM690

NickS

New member
Well, it's about time for a project I suppose. Nothing too OTT for now.. well, no, dual loops is pretty OTT but nothing flashy quite yet. I still gotta save up to get the aftermarket windowed CM690 side panel. Anyway, the details.

Case -CoolerMaster CM690

It's a good case tbh. Very very cheap but constructed well. I've already modded it a bit to fit the MCR-220-QP up top, but apart from that it remains stock.

Hardware

MSI P35 Neo2-FR Motherboard - What an awesome board tbh. So far I've had zero issues with it running my Xeon 3060 @ 3.6GHz, 24/7 @ 1.6125v (what a crappy clocker eh?)

Xeon 3060 - as I mentioned above, a crappy clocker. It works though, and it's still quick by todays standards. I will be going Wolfdale soon enough though.

G.Skill 4GBPQ - probably the best 4GB kit of DDR2 out. Love the stuff. Cheap, and runs 450MHz, 5-5-5-15 @ 1.95v BIOS 24/7 with no active cooling at all. Does it get hot? Not even close. If you've ever felt RAM with D9 chips @ 2.0v or above with no fan over it, you know HOT RAM.

eVGA 8800GTS 640 - again, theres nothing worth upgrading to right now for the money. GTX's are looking attractive @ $359 AR, but the 9 series is just on the horizon.

Enermax Liberty 500w - I've had it since.. a while. It's been through hell tbh. Still a champ though! No sense in upgrading it. It's 80+, it's got 8-pin PCI-E cables and its SLi + CF certified. Quiet and sexy too.

Cooling - I didn't need dual loop. I didn't want dual loop, but a good deal came along and I traded one of my copies of Vista Ultimate for it, so I figured why the hell not? Summer is gonna be here in a few months, might as well be prepared.

Loop 1

D-Tek Fuzion - An oldie but a goodie. Doesn't seem like it but it's been out for a while! Still, the only thing better than it is the EK Supreme and buying a whole new block for a 1-2ºC improvement isn't something I wanna do.

Swiftech MCP-655-B - Also an oldie but a goodie, sorta. Has a lot of flow so it'll work great with the unrestrictive Fuzion. For those of you who don't know, I'm the "anti-DDC." They break way too much for my comfort, so I stick with tried and true performers with a good reliability track record. I may

Swiftech MCR-220-QP - The best 220mm RAD out IMO. Thermochill's are overpriced I think. Less than half the price but 80% of the performance? I know what I want!

Misc - Using a T-Line + Danger Den Brass Plug for the filling/res. Simple, cheap, best flow, effective.

Loop 2

D-Tek Fuzion GFX - Not my first choice but it's what the guy has. Good performer but talk about a flow & pressure killer. It's like pumping into a damn brick wall. It looks sweet though.

AquaXtreme 50z - Another oldie but goodie. I chose this for my GPU loop because it has more head pressure than the MCP-655-B so I feel it'll be better for this restrictive block. Also has less heat dump.

Black Ice GT Stealth 220 - Again, not my first choice but it was what was included with the trade. I don't know much about it, all I know is they're unpopular for the most part, so I figure that's for a reason. Plus, the BI series have never exactly been top performers.

Misc - T-Line + DD Plug again. Flow ftw.

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

I'm not to sure what I'm going to do for modding, probably nothing. I really don't have anywhere else to put the rad except in front of the HDD cages, so that is where it shall go. I wish I had the money for an original Stacker! :p Stay tuned, the parts will be here this week - hopefully by Thursday.
 
YEY!. Looking good for the specs. Im waiting to get project radiation under going but i want to wait for the 9800 to bring itself along too. nice to see someone starting a new build...keep the old eyes reading and busy. lmfao

Good luck with the build. shall be staying tuned all of the way through..:D
 
Thanks! I'm in the same boat. I'm definitely waiting for next gen video cards, and enough money for a Wolfdale.
 
Some updates. Disassembled most of the PC. :)

First I gotta show these off. I got some Enzotech ramsinks for the 8800. I also got a pack of low-profile ones too for under the barbs since those are always a pita. WOW they're cool.

Apologies - these pix are all from my phone (Sony Ericsson W810i) so they can be a little blurry since the shutter speed isn't the fastest.

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Theres a neat little comparo of the low profile v. regular. I really recommend these, they make putting the tubes on the barbs a lot easier w/ramsinks.

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Cool beans eh?

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The swiftech pwm sinks for the back. :)

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That stupid NVIO chip bugs me. :mad:

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Looks shexy :D

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Stock contact, shoddy per normal. :o

Didn't do much else tonight, still waiting for the rest of the parts.

I did clean my poor tarnished Fuzion though.

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Before :( Great contact w/the CPU though!

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After :D

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Slightly reflective.

That's all for now! :)
 
Well, I'm bleeding the loop right now. I had to mount the 2nd rad off the back, it was much thicker than expected. No problems though, it looks very clean IMO. I'm still using the same tube for my CPU loop so thats all cloudy but, everything looks great. Pix soon!
 
Yeah :)

Heres some pix everyone! I can't wait to get the windowed panel. I got $20, just need $20 more.

Heres a before pic.

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Heres the card all ready to go :). Some condensation in the block from rinsing it w/hot water.

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All mounted, filling! My CPU tubing is still all cloudy, this is the 2nd time I've re-used it.

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The awesomeness.

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And my small CPU loop :)

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And all closed up :)

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I can't wait to see what it looks like when I get the windowed panel and maybe some blue CCFL's :)
 
This Looks Awesome !!!

gd work mate ....

btw one quick question ... im still a noob on this :p now u got 2 water pumps , i see u connected the graphic card and the cpu but i see 2 cable's connected to the upper side of the case , for what ?? and also to the left side (picture wise) , plz enlight me :p

thanks again and gd luck ;)
 
name='Fatal M' said:
This Looks Awesome !!!

gd work mate ....

btw one quick question ... im still a noob on this :p now u got 2 water pumps , i see u connected the graphic card and the cpu but i see 2 cable's connected to the upper side of the case , for what ?? and also to the left side (picture wise) , plz enlight me :p

thanks again and gd luck ;)

Ah i think i've worked out what you mean. the two tubes going to the top and back of the case are going to radiators. These release a lot of the heat which is stored in the loop. There are two rads, because there are two loops.
 
Thanks guys! I'm definitely going to get two different colors of dye for each loop, and add some CCFL's when I get enough $ for a windowed panel. :D
 
Ahh, I finally got some good pix!













:) I can't wait to get the window + some blue CCFL's. I think it'll bring the case to life.
 
looking good. im liking the mounting of the rad. i got mine done the same. using the fan as a spacer (great minds think alike hey XD)

Looks good though bud. Cant wait to see how the future mods come along :D
 
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