Projekt Suma Kuhl 2013

[JayCobs]

Greetings. New to the site. I heard great things about this place and decided to give it a go. :wavey:

I live in the desert and summertime proves to be quite challenging for my PC. Having my PC sound like an airport to get sub-par cooling is not the business. And trying to overclock for gaming; forget it. I'm fairly new to the modding scene. I have built and repaired computers for friends and family for a while. I built a "practice water cooled rig" just to get the hang of it with parts from Home Depot. Turned out pretty well. This will be my official first attempt at a full liquid loop.

Due to budget constraints I will split my build into two phases:

Phase 1:
Corsair Obsidian 800D
AMD Phenom II X4 965 Deneb Black Edition
Gigabyte GA-990FXAA-UD3 rev. 1.1
G.Skill Sniper F3-17000CL11D-8GBSR [2 X 4GB]
MSI R7950 Twin Frozr III 3GB GDDR5 V2 7970 PCB [2 of these]
Heatkiller GPU-X3 79X0 Ni Bi Silver water blocks and back plates
Corsair AX1200
Black Ice SR1 480mm rads [x2]
Noctua NF-F12 120mm [x8]
Swiftech MCP655 [x2]
Bitpsower Matte Black D5 upgrade kit [x2]
Bitspower Dual D5 Mod Top / Extreme black
Bitspower Dual / Single D5 Top Upgrade kit 150 - Black
Antec Kuhler H20 920 [from previous build]
Phobya 4-pin to 6x 3-pin fan splitter PCB [x2]
Lian Li case wheels [silver]
A cavalcade of Bitspower compression fittings

With the Corsair 900D dropping in a few weeks I'm not sure if anyone has an interest in the 800D anymore. I hope so, cuz I do!

And so it begins...

This is a pic of my rig prior to the upgrade:

Not a bad look. However in the summer my temps were horrible! :blink:

A good percentage of Phase 1 is complete. I will now catch you guys up to my current state.

Mounting the Lian Li case wheels. I will later rearrange their positioning.

I'm positive this case is going to be close to 70lbs when complete. Mounted some spring loaded case handles from MNPCTECH to assist with lifting.

Here I have gutted most of the case and removed the MoBo tray for my upcoming removable MoBo tray mod.

Barely visible is the now skeletized [is this a real verb tense???] Corsair 800D. It is literally a box with case wheels. Time to cut some blanking plates and start on the removable MoBo tray mod.

Here's a pic of the mount where the PSU will be relocated to. I will speak on that res/pump config shortly.

This is what I initially planned for the build. A single D5 pump with res top mod kit, and an external fill port. However, I have abandoned this course for a more powerful pump config. The new pump config will not be mounted to the Mobo tray. Here a first look at the blanking plates cut and installed. I fabricated a mock AX 1200 [blue box] to make sure as I progress I do not invade its footprint in the case.

This is a close up shot of the stock mid-plate mod. I cut and filed it to keep some of the structural integrity of the case, and to mount the guide track for the removable MoBo tray.

This is where I took a deep breath and dove in. All or nothin' baby! Point of no return. Chopped the rear of the case for the removable Mobo tray mod.

Here I'm bending the new Mobo tray.

And here it is people! The first [I haven't seen another one on the net] Corsair 800D with a true sliding removable MoBo tray. I was so happy it worked out. If it didn't, I was gonna throw this case of a near by parking structure. Then fab a new case from scratch. Whew...crisis averted. The tedious part of this mod was SLOWLY filing the bottom portion of the original MoBo tray so it fit perfectly in the track. I think it took over an hour to complete the filing. Well worth it.

The next day after this milestone was completed, I got a knock at the door...

My shipment has arrived!!! :dribble:

This is over 90% of what I need to complete Phase 1. Felt like I was 4yrs old on Christmas Day again. What a feeling. The shipment arrived 20mins before I had to leave for the plantation. Best believe I came super close to tellin' my boss "Not comin' in today!". I took some parts to work with me to assemble and ease the anxiety. I work 4 days a week, 10hr shifts. 10hrs was just TOO DAMN LONG TO WAIT MAN!!! :wacko:

The goodies

What I took to work to play with. Luckily the package arrived on a Friday. I have the weekends off which helped my sanity remain intact knowing I can work on the computer for the next two days! tee-hee

This is a shinning moment here. All the measuring, remeasuring...asking myself over and over is it going to fit? Will there be enough room? Man...came down to a couple of millimeters. I WIN! both rads and fans fit. And yes you are looking at TWO 480s in the bottom of an 800D. Witness.

At this part of the build I need to use my actual components and not mock-ups to move forward. Hence, I had to break down the temporary house [CoolerMaster Scout] for my components and use my laptop. This is killing me softly. I went from a beast of a machine, BluRay, video games, and 3 monitors to 1 monitor and sluggish by comparison performance. Man, I need to get SkyNET back up and running A.S.A.P.!!!!!

I am using MASSIVE MoBo stand-offs for my planned cable management. I'm going to cut holes for each cable pass-through underneath the MoBo. This will give the illusion of the wires "crawling" from under the MoBo instead of simply passing through the tray. Should look awesome at the end. What did I use to make the stand-offs you ask? A chopped up grey BIC pen housing. WIN.

Ahhh...the beautiful MSI R7950s all dressed up and nothing to process. :lol: Also you get a sneak peak of the pump/res config here as well. SkyNET is gaining a lot of weight and there is no liquid in the build yet. My earlier estimation of 70lbs currently way off.

Here is a rear shot of the removable MoBo tray mod. Also this is the build progress to present.

And here is Phase 1 to current. I have the PCI cables connected to the GPUs [orange zip ties are temps]. You can see how they come from behind the MoBo. Visible is one of the splitter PCBs for the closest facing fans. I have Velcro-ed my Intel SSD to the PSU. The fans are currently being powered by a spare PSU behind the build. So, outside of some Tygon tubing and a few fittings Phase 1 is near complete. I still need to tighten up some odds and ends with the MoBo tray like mounting the MoBo tray rail permanently.

I would love to hear ideas of where I should or you would go with the build from this point. I'm still contemplating putting another 480 in the roof. It's stock cut for a 360 and that might be what I go with. Updates will be minuscule until I can place Phase 1's final order with FrozenCPU. I gotta get some debt cleared up before I dump more cash in this build.

Stay tuned....

 

[alpenwasser]

Greetings. New to the site. I heard great things about this place and decided to give it a go. :wavey:

Welcome, mate!

With the Corsair 900D dropping in a few weeks I'm not sure if anyone has an interest in the 800D anymore.

I certainly do! And you're actually doing something new and original with it .

I would love to hear ideas of where I should or you would go with the build from this point.

Well, paint the alu, of course! I'm assuming that's on the todo list anyway, along with a lot of other stuff (radiator air vents, for example)

Rather liking this build, my friend. Those SR-1's are effin' sweet, I have two 560's of those myself.

 

[wassupdoc]

... another 480?! You crazy! I think 2 480's is more than enough to cool it haha great work!

 

[paulstung]

Welcome mate . Looking good

 

[JayCobs]

Well, paint the alu, of course! I'm assuming that's on the todo list anyway, along with a lot of other stuff (radiator air vents, for example)

You are correct sir. Sounds like you have a copy of my To Do List! :lol: Thanks for taking a look. I love these rads. You can use dead silent fans with them. I want my build as quiet as possible.

... another 480?! You crazy! I think 2 480's is more than enough to cool it haha great work!

Thanks for the input. I'm going for overkill, or, what some call "future proofing". Just in case I get a hold of components in the future that require substantial cooling. However, the current trend I see is manufacturing components that create less heat [i.e. the new Intel CPUs]. With that said it might currently be overkill now! Putting 3 480s in this build will DEF put it in it's own lane for sure.

Welcome mate . Looking good

Thanks for taking the time to have a look-see. Stay tuned...

 

[alpenwasser]

I'm still contemplating putting another 480 in the roof. It's stock cut for a 360 and that might be what I go with.

You are correct sir. Sounds like you have a copy of my To Do List! :lol: Thanks for taking a look. I love these rads. You can use dead silent fans with them. I want my build as quiet as possible.

Haha, let's call it healthy intuition

It would also appear we have similar preferences when it comes to radiators and fan speeds. The exact reason I got these rads is to run some very-low rpm fans on them (Bitfenix Spectre Pro 140 mm version; has quite a bit of punch on 12 V without being extremely noisy and can be undervolted very well without producing annoying bearing noises and stuff like that ).

And on that note, as long as you have the space and the money, putting another 360/480 in the roof is nothing more than thorough thinking. Then you could run just a slight breeze over your rads and still get good temps

I'm actually contemplating getting another 480 for my build in addition to my two 560's. But first I need to know how my spatial and financial reserves look when everything else is done ^_^

 

[JayCobs]

Haha, let's call it healthy intuition

It would also appear we have similar preferences when it comes to radiators and fan speeds. The exact reason I got these rads is to run some very-low rpm fans on them (Bitfenix Spectre Pro 140 mm version; has quite a bit of punch on 12 V without being extremely noisy and can be undervolted very well without producing annoying bearing noises and stuff like that ).

And on that note, as long as you have the space and the money, putting another 360/480 in the roof is nothing more than thorough thinking. Then you could run just a slight breeze over your rads and still get good temps

I'm actually contemplating getting another 480 for my build in addition to my two 560's. But first I need to know how my spatial and financial reserves look when everything else is done ^_^

I thought long about coppin' some Spectre 120mms, but, I'm not a fan of LEDs. The LED flavor is KINDA growin' on me. However, I don't compute in the dark. I like Noctua's color scheme, and they are bullet-proof fans. What case do you have?

Update

I'm want to add some color to my build to make it pop. I'm thinking about getting some Bitfenix Alchemy Multi-sleeve orange extensions for PCI-E, 24-pin, and 8-pin ATX. Those are the only cables that will be visible in the build. I'm not concerned with matching the Noctuas. Those match themselves, you dig? Thoughts guys?

 

[alpenwasser]

I thought long about coppin' some Spectre 120mms, but, I'm not a fan of LEDs. The LED flavor is KINDA growin' on me. However, I don't compute in the dark. I like Noctua's color scheme, and they are bullet-proof fans. What case do you have?

Oh I'm not really a fan of LED fans either, I have the non-LED version. For lighting I use LED strips (or rather: I will use LED strips once I get the build together). And the 120 version of the Spectre Pro is quite a bit weaker than the 140 version (I have some 120's for trying them out).

Completely agree on the Noctuas, they are absolutely phenomenal fans, and if you like the color, all the better (for me it depends on the build, but I'm rather liking them here I must admit).

Unfortunately, many great 120 fans do not have a corresponding 140 version, among them Noctua's focused flow fans and the new Noiseblocker e-Loops (one of those two would probably be on my short list if they had a 140 version). But I'm really quite happy with the 140 version of the Spectre Pro, so I can't complain too much . One possible alternative is the Noiseblocker BlackSilentPro (they are available with a bit higher rpm's if one desires), but I preferred the look of the Spectre Pros so I went for those.

Case is a Caselabs SMH10 with standard roof (not the extended one). The two 560's will go in the bottom, and since I have a reverse ATX version and don't use all PCI-E slots I could still get an SR-1 with one side of fans in below the roof. I would loose two PCI-E slots, but that I can live with (I will at most be running two GPU cards, only one in the beginning).

Once I have everything together I'll do a proper build log, but that's probably going to be April or even May.

 

[JayCobs]

Case is a Caselabs SMH10 with standard roof (not the extended one). The two 560's will go in the bottom, and since I have a reverse ATX version and don't use all PCI-E slots I could still get an SR-1 with one side of fans in below the roof. I would loose two PCI-E slots, but that I can live with (I will at most be running two GPU cards, only one in the beginning).

Nice case selection. CaseLabs makes some boss products. Definitely squeeze in the other rad if you can. With the amount of rad we utilize in our builds, we could probably do passive cooling! :lol:

 

[alpenwasser]

Nice case selection. CaseLabs makes some boss products. Definitely squeeze in the other rad if you can. With the amount of rad we utilize in our builds, we could probably do passive cooling! :lol:

Almost, all it takes is a slight whiff of air. Maybe blow on it once an hour to exchange it :lol:

It really is an awesome case, yeah. Very happy with it
I'll make sure to provide some detail pics when I do my build log.

 

[JayCobs]

Almost, all it takes is a slight whiff of air. Maybe blow on it once an hour to exchange it :lol:

It really is an awesome case, yeah. Very happy with it
I'll make sure to provide some detail pics when I do my build log.

Excellent. Can't wait for the build log. Any ideas on what color cable sleeving I should use? I'm thinking orange or grey.

 

[alpenwasser]

Oh yeah, forgot about that question

I'm trying to picture a black M/B tray with orange cables. Black/orange is a great combo imho, but I'm not sure how the chrome of the GPU backplates will mix with orange.

Grey is a pretty good choice, and will certainly fit. But if orange works, it would look fantastic I think. Maybe you should order an orange sample and just try it out? If it doesn't fit you can then still go for grey.

Either way, the BF alchemy cables look pretty nice imho.

 

[JayCobs]

Oh yeah, forgot about that question

I'm trying to picture a black M/B tray with orange cables. Black/orange is a great combo imho, but I'm not sure how the chrome of the GPU backplates will mix with orange.

Grey is a pretty good choice, and will certainly fit. But if orange works, it would look fantastic I think. Maybe you should order an orange sample and just try it out? If it doesn't fit you can then still go for grey.

Either way, the BF alchemy cables look pretty nice imho.

I'll go with the silver/light grey flavor. I don't think the orange would look as good. Silver/light grey fits the components better. Thanks for the input. :handshake:

 

[alpenwasser]

I'll go with the silver/light grey flavor. I don't think the orange would look as good. Silver/light grey fits the components better. Thanks for the input. :handshake:

Happy to help Grey does go nicely with the M/B and the chrome/nickel backplates, that's true.

 

[badtaylorx]

if you stick a 480 in the top you'll have a grand total of 1440mm...

thats a whooooooooooole lota rad.... too bad you cant mount it up on its side like bottom ones.....that would look great

 

[JayCobs]

if you stick a 480 in the top you'll have a grand total of 1440mm...

thats a whooooooooooole lota rad.... too bad you cant mount it up on its side like bottom ones.....that would look great

Thanks for the input. I never added it all up. You are scaring me! :lol: I've decided to use a 360 for Phase 2. I don't wanna chop up the top. Geezus, I've sawed the D a great deal already. I could mount it sideways on top of the case. However, that would just DESTROY the aesthetics. Honestly I don't NEED another radiator. But, you only live once!

 

[alpenwasser]

I've decided to use a 360 for Phase 2.

Oh no! You absolutely, positively, certainly, definitely, decidedly most assuredly need that last 120 mm fan! :crazy:

 

[JayCobs]

Oh no! You absolutely, positively, certainly, definitely, decidedly most assuredly need that last 120 mm fan! :crazy:

HA! I don't think SkyNET will miss it. I guess it will depend on my mood when Phase 2 is under way.

03.27.13
UPDATE!!!

Inspiration and time to think gave me a new pump config to try out. I had to run some fluid with it to make sure it would work. Judging by the vortex I believe it's good to go! :wiggle:

Here are some pics of the ruff install. I don't have it completely level they way I want. I'm going to file out the bottom mount holes to give me wiggle room to level it upon final install. You probably can't tell in the pics. I'm just fussy that way.

Stay tuned...

 

[alpenwasser]

I just noticed: When I finally do my build with my SMH10, our internal component arrangement (radiators, PSU, res, pumps, possibly top radiator) will be quite similar
Not identical (who would want that? :lol, but similar.
And before I bought the SMH10 (well, before it came out) I was planning to do a scratchbuild, and ended up at the same place.
I suppose there really aren't that many possibilities to arrange your components in a square box and get best space effiency combined with clean layout.

 

[JayCobs]

I just noticed: When I finally do my build with my SMH10, our internal component arrangement (radiators, PSU, res, pumps, possibly top radiator) will be quite similar
Not identical (who would want that? :lol, but similar.
And before I bought the SMH10 (well, before it came out) I was planning to do a scratchbuild, and ended up at the same place.
I suppose there really aren't that many possibilities to arrange your components in a square box and get best space effiency combined with clean layout.

This is true. The dimensions of both cases are similar. I'll leave mounting 3 480mm rads to you. I can't WAIT to see that. Luckily, there's more than one way to skin a cat! I'm currently getting my fittings list together. I gotta get SkyNET online again. Now, where do I get the money...