PacificNic
New member
Warning: This is a long one, feel free to skip through it if you wish.
What's going on, people? This is my first actual thread post on this forum, I believe. I don't come on here very often at all but I wanted to share this. I first began this PC adventure about 6 years ago when I spent 350AUD and got a very basic gaming PC with a Phenom II X4 840 and a GT240 - which handled Battlefield surprisingly well, albeit at low settings.
Fast forward and I've got a reference 290 and a G3258 which is keeping my 290 from really rearing its head and chugging out frames. So I bought a 4790K and got a Phanteks C-style cooler as a gift. Then I looked at AIOs. I wanted expandability and reliability with that expansion, so I went with the H220-X. The problem now was that my reference 290 was hot and loud. So I scoured r/hardwareswap as well as eBay and Performance-PCs and got a Swiftech block, Swiftech MCP 655-B, Swiftech 240mm rad, Swiftech MCRes Micro (notice a pattern?) plus the Bitspower compressions and Mayhem's tubing. I went with this tubing because it was 1/2 the price of Primochill tubing. And it's working great. For fluid, I have distilled mixed with Liquid Utopia which does its job.
When I got the H220-X, I was told, it won't work in the R4 unless you drill holes. When I looked into front mounting, people told me that there I couldn't fit anything except a bayres or built-in res because of the tight space. People said you couldn't run a dual loop in the R4.
Well. I proved those b**ches wrong. I did it all. And this was my first time liquid cooling. There were bumps in the road but I did it and it gave me a huge feeling of gratification - mainly just because I thought I would break everything.
Ironically, I now want to get an Enthoo Pro so that I can shove in a 360mm rad, but that's not the point! I've also considered combining the loops to possibly give better CPU temps as the front rad does dump a lot of hot air inside the case. I did try the rear fan on intake, but the hot air just ended up filling the case and caused problems.
PICTURE TIME!! All of these were shot on my OnePlus Two and I wasn't being very steady. If there is enough demand, I can take some more with better lighting, etc. I am, however, limited to the OP2.
Specs:
Intel Core i7 4790K
MSI Z97 Gaming 5
8GB GSkill 1333MHz RAM (have 16GB of HyperX 1866 inbound)
Swiftech H220-X
XFX R9 290
Corsair AX760
Samsung 840 EVO 250GB
Samsung 850 EVO 500GB
WD Blue Drive 500GB
Fractal Design Define R4 w/ Window
Corsair Vengeance K90
Logitech G502 Proteus Core
Razer Goliathus Extended (Control)
Watercooling Components:
Swiftech MCP 655-B
Swiftech MCRes Micro
Swiftech Komodo R9-LE
Swiftech MCR220-XP
Mayhem's Tubing (3/8*5/8)
XSPC Tubing Cutters
Primochill Liquid Utopia
Distilled Water
Bitspower Matte Black Fittings (3/8*5/8)
All comments appreciated, if you would like more photos, I do have a few.
Thanks for checking this out! See you when I get the 360
Just realized I didn't include monitors in spec list. I have the LG 24GM77 and HP w185 on a Rosewill arm
What's going on, people? This is my first actual thread post on this forum, I believe. I don't come on here very often at all but I wanted to share this. I first began this PC adventure about 6 years ago when I spent 350AUD and got a very basic gaming PC with a Phenom II X4 840 and a GT240 - which handled Battlefield surprisingly well, albeit at low settings.
Fast forward and I've got a reference 290 and a G3258 which is keeping my 290 from really rearing its head and chugging out frames. So I bought a 4790K and got a Phanteks C-style cooler as a gift. Then I looked at AIOs. I wanted expandability and reliability with that expansion, so I went with the H220-X. The problem now was that my reference 290 was hot and loud. So I scoured r/hardwareswap as well as eBay and Performance-PCs and got a Swiftech block, Swiftech MCP 655-B, Swiftech 240mm rad, Swiftech MCRes Micro (notice a pattern?) plus the Bitspower compressions and Mayhem's tubing. I went with this tubing because it was 1/2 the price of Primochill tubing. And it's working great. For fluid, I have distilled mixed with Liquid Utopia which does its job.
When I got the H220-X, I was told, it won't work in the R4 unless you drill holes. When I looked into front mounting, people told me that there I couldn't fit anything except a bayres or built-in res because of the tight space. People said you couldn't run a dual loop in the R4.
Well. I proved those b**ches wrong. I did it all. And this was my first time liquid cooling. There were bumps in the road but I did it and it gave me a huge feeling of gratification - mainly just because I thought I would break everything.
Ironically, I now want to get an Enthoo Pro so that I can shove in a 360mm rad, but that's not the point! I've also considered combining the loops to possibly give better CPU temps as the front rad does dump a lot of hot air inside the case. I did try the rear fan on intake, but the hot air just ended up filling the case and caused problems.
PICTURE TIME!! All of these were shot on my OnePlus Two and I wasn't being very steady. If there is enough demand, I can take some more with better lighting, etc. I am, however, limited to the OP2.
Specs:
Intel Core i7 4790K
MSI Z97 Gaming 5
8GB GSkill 1333MHz RAM (have 16GB of HyperX 1866 inbound)
Swiftech H220-X
XFX R9 290
Corsair AX760
Samsung 840 EVO 250GB
Samsung 850 EVO 500GB
WD Blue Drive 500GB
Fractal Design Define R4 w/ Window
Corsair Vengeance K90
Logitech G502 Proteus Core
Razer Goliathus Extended (Control)
Watercooling Components:
Swiftech MCP 655-B
Swiftech MCRes Micro
Swiftech Komodo R9-LE
Swiftech MCR220-XP
Mayhem's Tubing (3/8*5/8)
XSPC Tubing Cutters
Primochill Liquid Utopia
Distilled Water
Bitspower Matte Black Fittings (3/8*5/8)
- Straight - 2
- 90 - 3
- 45 - 3
All comments appreciated, if you would like more photos, I do have a few.
Thanks for checking this out! See you when I get the 360
Just realized I didn't include monitors in spec list. I have the LG 24GM77 and HP w185 on a Rosewill arm
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