iLikeGreeeeen
New member
So as promised, I'll be water cooling my rig (see sig) in the coming week or so
I've already gotten a few parts (some from forums, others from separate orders), and currently waiting on my last big order from performance pc's to arrive
This is what I had in mind from the start...disregard the dimensions on the 240mm rad and the GT fans because there was a change of plans there.
Instead, I'll be using the XSPC EX240 radiator and Noiseblocker BlackSilent Pro PL-2 fans.
WC HARDWARE:
Pump: MCP655 w/ Bitspower Pump Top & Mod Kit
Reservoir: Bitspower Z-Multi 150
Rads: XSPC EX240 & Phobya Xtreme 200
CPU Block: XSPC Raystorm
GPU Block: EK-FC570/580 GTX+ (EN plexi one) and the complimentary backplate
Fittings: Bitspower Black Matte (see diagram for angles), Koolance VL4N quick disconnects
Tubing: Tygon (1/2" ID, 3/4" OD)
Coolant: Distilled water with UV Green Mayhem's Dye + Biocide
MCP655 pump with it's ugly stock body
D5 mod kit
D5 mod kit installed. I have black stop fittings because the seller kept the silver ones for his own rig (i don't mind the black ones, considering my rig colour scheme)
Bitspower Z-multi 150 reservoir
Close-up on Bitspower logo on reservoir
Update 1
picked up my package from NCIX today
I ordered a dozen compression fittings but they only had ten in stock so i gotta go back for the last pair when they restock (bummer).
gotta say, the gpu block looks amazing! here are some pictures of everything i picked up today:
Fan Grills and Filter
Bitspower compression fittings and quick disconnects (QD's were from forums, actually...)
Some pictures of the gpu water block...i'll take more pictures once I get around to actually taking it out of the plastic and installing it
little mini hulk figurine i got when i watched the Avengers movie. won't be replacing the original hulk figurine though
Update 2
So I picked up my PPCs package today and I pretty much have everything except the last two compression fittings that never arrived from NCIX
with that said, i have four more compression fittings and a few other things arriving from FrozenCPU hopefully by monday.
With all the excitement of unpacking, I forgot to take a group photo of all the unopened boxes, but here are the individual pictures nevertheless:
the lovely Raystorm
Was a bit disappointed to see that one of my green mayhem's dye bottles leaked, but from the looks of what's left in the bottle, it only looks like a few drops at most. good thing i ordered two bottles (didn't want to pay for extra shipping if i needed a single bottle sometime in the future)!
As most of you guys flamed me for having cathodes in my rig, I decided to go with LEDs this time. will be using the phobya one for sure. the other two, i'm going to play around with to see if they improve the lighting once everything is up and running
EX240
Phobya Xtreme 200 and grill. When i ordered the grill, the dimensions seemed to be very tight for my case, but i decided to take the risk and order it anyway cause it would've looked awesome if it fit. Unfortunately, it's just a tad too big so I'm going to set it aside for now and maybe shave off bits of the side once I get access to a workbench at school next term.
and finally, the GPU back plate. i know that it says GTX 580 on it, but the 570 seems to share water blocks/back plates with the 580. it's okay, I can just lie to my friends and tell them i have a 580
Really bummed out that i can't go ahead and start putting my loop together cause i'm missing two fittings. wish i hadn't dismissed the two default barb fittings the raystorm WOULD'VE came with. Anyway, hope this is a big enough update to keep you guys interested for now. Will be back with more hopefully on monday!
Update 3
So turns out my raystorm did, in fact, come with the default chrome barbs so i had enough fittings to complete the build! i know i was going for the black fittings, but the silver barbs turned out to look pretty nice and clean on the reservoir.
I had some trouble with the back plate of my graphics card but more on that when we get to it later.
flushing out the rads with distilled water
all the shavings that came out from both rads. radiators don't really hold as much water as i thought...
back of the raystorm
3/4" OD compression fittings fit perfectly on the raystorm
most of the fittings (the rest were already installed)
EX240 mounted with fan grills. i realized i never took pictures of the rad fans, but i used the NoiseBlocker PL-2's. also have one of them as an intake on the rear of my case (just to have positive pressure for less dust)
the mounting holes for 200mm fans (hidden under the frame of the fan) were literally millimeters off from the bitfenix spectre pro holes. was a shame, but i used double sided industrial tape and the fan mounted rock solid. no give even if i press down firmly on the radiator while mounted in the case.
tried to make the shortest and cleanest tubing routes, so i changed the orientation of the pump so that it faces the front of the case rather than the window panel like i had on my diagram. this also allowed me to gain access to the speed adjustment without having to take off the other side pane. the clips on the floor of the case for the HDD cages made it impossible to have the pump flush on the group and far back enough to have the tube from the reservoir come straight down. i took a plastic circular case used for paper clips and taped the sides with black electrical tape, then mounted the pump on top of that. used two layers of double sided tape to absorb the vibrations. pump is extremely quiet from settings 1 through 4. setting 5 becomes noticeable over the fans (which are also VERY quiet even on 12V).
as you can see, the silver barbs on the reservoir keep it very clean and simple. would've looked too "bulky" having compression fittings on it as well. guess this was something i overlooked when choosing my pieces, but it worked out well in the end. didn't order any hose clamps so i had to make do with zip ties
all tubed up. since you guys seem to like the raystorm so much, i took pictures of the raystorm at every step of the build
only the graphics card remains...
thought i'd take a picture of the compression fittings with the matte black finish on the ex240 just in case some of you guys wanted a comparison. i really like this snapshot for some reason...
one last look at the graphics card before the stock cooler goes bye-bye
the stock cooler on my card came off much more easily than some of the tutorials i saw on youtube. it wasn't even warm cause i had left it out of the rig for a couple hours, but i'm not complaining
finished!
says "580 GTX"...shhhhhhh, it's a secret
alright so here's why i was disappointed with EKWB...the backplate came with 7 allen key screws, all of the same length. the middle three screws would be mounting directly into the waterblock, while the other 4 would go straight through the pcb and fasten with a washer and nut. as you can see, the middle three screws did not tighten flush with the backplate.
at this point, i felt the screws really bite and feared that the stand-offs on my water block would come loose if i tried to take off the backplate, so i decided to take the screws out to be safe. turns out, the screws were already tightened further than the standoffs *facepalm*. and so, i had three loose stand-offs and no access to any of the screws that were mounted into the water block (because the backplate was covering them). for one of the three, i had access to the standoff because it was on the outer edge of the pcb, so i just used the mini wrench tool supplied with the water block to hold the stand off while loosening the screw. the other two, i had no other choice than to take a hacksaw and saw off the tops of the screws. of course, i completely stratched and destroyed the backplate in the process, but it was worth it to have my graphics card back
what frustrated me even more was that after i had destroyed my backplate, i found a little baggie that came with my water block (not the back plate) and guess what was in it...yeah, three short allen-key screws! i accept that it was my fault for not noticing them in the first place, but nowhere in the instructions for the water block OR the back plate (they have separate manuals) did it mention the need for those shorter screws. even on the water block manual where they indicate the contents of the package, those screws were not mentioned. i hope my misfortune will save you guys a lot of grief in the future, but i'm perfectly happy with not having a backplate anymore!
here is one more picture to show what the flush screws looked like. sorry about my finger, didn't notice it until i uploaded. i didn't take pictures of the hacksaw results because it was an ugly process but i'll take a picture of the backplate tonight to show you how it ended up. there were a lot of shaving flying around from the acetal backplate so i was scared some of it would somehow ruin my graphics card, but i did a thorough clean up with compressed air and q-tips and i'm happy to say that the graphics card is working perfectly fine
graphics card in, ready for the first fill up!
and so it begins. leak test.
used this as a fill port (with a bitspower plug), and i simply just curve the tubing and hide it in the optical bay when not in use.
raystorm during leak test. lots of bubbles!
still leak testing, but took out the paper towels and put in the hulk for a better looking picture
raystorm, post-leak test. free of bubbles, and a bit opaque from the lighting/flash (UV reactive coolant does this)
pump config, post-leak test. once again, flash made the coolant react, but the bottom right is a better indication of coolant colour/transparency when not under uv lighting
top of the reservoir. compression fitting probably would've made it look busier
snapshot of the uv green orings from the fittings showing through the waterblock. i also took this picture because there is a noticeable strain on the pcb from the waterblock. did some research and it seems to be perfectly normal. i still went ahead and made a temporary fix for it though (you will see later)
for lighting, i found that the puk and lazer LED's were useless in terms of lighting up the coolant. they needed to be REALLY close to the tubing, and when they did react, it would be in visible polka dots because of how the LEDs are aimed. so, i just stuck with the single phobya flexlight which is extremely bright. too bright, even, but i will have to live with it.
the adhesive that came with the LED strip was terrible, and the rubbery material it was made of also made my double sided tape useless. and so, i had to use zip ties and fastened one end to the bottom of the case, and had it go straight up the side of the window
here's the light show, but the camera picked up the uv lighting too well, it's not THAT purple! the coolant, however, is pretty accurate.
not too happy about how purple the phobya lights turned out to be, so the white LED's that are coming will probably what i will go with. i'll upload more once they arrive!
another shot with my camera set to "fireworks" mode (low light capture). mind you, these pictures are all taken with my phone, so i was glad it had this function. once again, this is not an accurate depiction of the lights, as the purple is a bit more noticeable than this.
as for the sagging graphics card fix, i took out the shield for a lightbulb from a lamp i found. it was such a perfect fit that it was kind of creepy. i put an elastic band just to prevent it from scratching the gpu water block and my psu, but i will eventually come up with another fix that's less noticeable. once again, colour is not that accurate!
overall, i'm pretty happy with my build! it was extremely fun to do, except for the sore fingers the next day from tightening compression fittings. i think my extensive planning and choosing the most suitable parts helped make the experience a lot smoother than it could have been, and i'm glad i put in all the time beforehand. really worth the effort. really suggest you guys do the same!
if only the backplate had worked out, this would have been a perfect build log, but we all come across obstacles like these once in a while. i'm just glad it wasn't a problem with something important like a water block or radiator. hope you guys enjoyed this build log even half as much as i enjoyed building it!
Cheers!
-Ryan
I've already gotten a few parts (some from forums, others from separate orders), and currently waiting on my last big order from performance pc's to arrive
This is what I had in mind from the start...disregard the dimensions on the 240mm rad and the GT fans because there was a change of plans there.
Instead, I'll be using the XSPC EX240 radiator and Noiseblocker BlackSilent Pro PL-2 fans.
WC HARDWARE:
Pump: MCP655 w/ Bitspower Pump Top & Mod Kit
Reservoir: Bitspower Z-Multi 150
Rads: XSPC EX240 & Phobya Xtreme 200
CPU Block: XSPC Raystorm
GPU Block: EK-FC570/580 GTX+ (EN plexi one) and the complimentary backplate
Fittings: Bitspower Black Matte (see diagram for angles), Koolance VL4N quick disconnects
Tubing: Tygon (1/2" ID, 3/4" OD)
Coolant: Distilled water with UV Green Mayhem's Dye + Biocide
MCP655 pump with it's ugly stock body
D5 mod kit
D5 mod kit installed. I have black stop fittings because the seller kept the silver ones for his own rig (i don't mind the black ones, considering my rig colour scheme)
Bitspower Z-multi 150 reservoir
Close-up on Bitspower logo on reservoir
Update 1
picked up my package from NCIX today
gotta say, the gpu block looks amazing! here are some pictures of everything i picked up today:
Fan Grills and Filter
Bitspower compression fittings and quick disconnects (QD's were from forums, actually...)
Some pictures of the gpu water block...i'll take more pictures once I get around to actually taking it out of the plastic and installing it
little mini hulk figurine i got when i watched the Avengers movie. won't be replacing the original hulk figurine though
Update 2
So I picked up my PPCs package today and I pretty much have everything except the last two compression fittings that never arrived from NCIX
with that said, i have four more compression fittings and a few other things arriving from FrozenCPU hopefully by monday.
With all the excitement of unpacking, I forgot to take a group photo of all the unopened boxes, but here are the individual pictures nevertheless:
the lovely Raystorm
Was a bit disappointed to see that one of my green mayhem's dye bottles leaked, but from the looks of what's left in the bottle, it only looks like a few drops at most. good thing i ordered two bottles (didn't want to pay for extra shipping if i needed a single bottle sometime in the future)!
As most of you guys flamed me for having cathodes in my rig, I decided to go with LEDs this time. will be using the phobya one for sure. the other two, i'm going to play around with to see if they improve the lighting once everything is up and running
EX240
Phobya Xtreme 200 and grill. When i ordered the grill, the dimensions seemed to be very tight for my case, but i decided to take the risk and order it anyway cause it would've looked awesome if it fit. Unfortunately, it's just a tad too big so I'm going to set it aside for now and maybe shave off bits of the side once I get access to a workbench at school next term.
and finally, the GPU back plate. i know that it says GTX 580 on it, but the 570 seems to share water blocks/back plates with the 580. it's okay, I can just lie to my friends and tell them i have a 580
Really bummed out that i can't go ahead and start putting my loop together cause i'm missing two fittings. wish i hadn't dismissed the two default barb fittings the raystorm WOULD'VE came with. Anyway, hope this is a big enough update to keep you guys interested for now. Will be back with more hopefully on monday!
Update 3
So turns out my raystorm did, in fact, come with the default chrome barbs so i had enough fittings to complete the build! i know i was going for the black fittings, but the silver barbs turned out to look pretty nice and clean on the reservoir.
I had some trouble with the back plate of my graphics card but more on that when we get to it later.
flushing out the rads with distilled water
all the shavings that came out from both rads. radiators don't really hold as much water as i thought...
back of the raystorm
3/4" OD compression fittings fit perfectly on the raystorm
most of the fittings (the rest were already installed)
EX240 mounted with fan grills. i realized i never took pictures of the rad fans, but i used the NoiseBlocker PL-2's. also have one of them as an intake on the rear of my case (just to have positive pressure for less dust)
the mounting holes for 200mm fans (hidden under the frame of the fan) were literally millimeters off from the bitfenix spectre pro holes. was a shame, but i used double sided industrial tape and the fan mounted rock solid. no give even if i press down firmly on the radiator while mounted in the case.
tried to make the shortest and cleanest tubing routes, so i changed the orientation of the pump so that it faces the front of the case rather than the window panel like i had on my diagram. this also allowed me to gain access to the speed adjustment without having to take off the other side pane. the clips on the floor of the case for the HDD cages made it impossible to have the pump flush on the group and far back enough to have the tube from the reservoir come straight down. i took a plastic circular case used for paper clips and taped the sides with black electrical tape, then mounted the pump on top of that. used two layers of double sided tape to absorb the vibrations. pump is extremely quiet from settings 1 through 4. setting 5 becomes noticeable over the fans (which are also VERY quiet even on 12V).
as you can see, the silver barbs on the reservoir keep it very clean and simple. would've looked too "bulky" having compression fittings on it as well. guess this was something i overlooked when choosing my pieces, but it worked out well in the end. didn't order any hose clamps so i had to make do with zip ties
all tubed up. since you guys seem to like the raystorm so much, i took pictures of the raystorm at every step of the build
only the graphics card remains...
thought i'd take a picture of the compression fittings with the matte black finish on the ex240 just in case some of you guys wanted a comparison. i really like this snapshot for some reason...
one last look at the graphics card before the stock cooler goes bye-bye
the stock cooler on my card came off much more easily than some of the tutorials i saw on youtube. it wasn't even warm cause i had left it out of the rig for a couple hours, but i'm not complaining
finished!
says "580 GTX"...shhhhhhh, it's a secret
alright so here's why i was disappointed with EKWB...the backplate came with 7 allen key screws, all of the same length. the middle three screws would be mounting directly into the waterblock, while the other 4 would go straight through the pcb and fasten with a washer and nut. as you can see, the middle three screws did not tighten flush with the backplate.
at this point, i felt the screws really bite and feared that the stand-offs on my water block would come loose if i tried to take off the backplate, so i decided to take the screws out to be safe. turns out, the screws were already tightened further than the standoffs *facepalm*. and so, i had three loose stand-offs and no access to any of the screws that were mounted into the water block (because the backplate was covering them). for one of the three, i had access to the standoff because it was on the outer edge of the pcb, so i just used the mini wrench tool supplied with the water block to hold the stand off while loosening the screw. the other two, i had no other choice than to take a hacksaw and saw off the tops of the screws. of course, i completely stratched and destroyed the backplate in the process, but it was worth it to have my graphics card back
what frustrated me even more was that after i had destroyed my backplate, i found a little baggie that came with my water block (not the back plate) and guess what was in it...yeah, three short allen-key screws! i accept that it was my fault for not noticing them in the first place, but nowhere in the instructions for the water block OR the back plate (they have separate manuals) did it mention the need for those shorter screws. even on the water block manual where they indicate the contents of the package, those screws were not mentioned. i hope my misfortune will save you guys a lot of grief in the future, but i'm perfectly happy with not having a backplate anymore!
here is one more picture to show what the flush screws looked like. sorry about my finger, didn't notice it until i uploaded. i didn't take pictures of the hacksaw results because it was an ugly process but i'll take a picture of the backplate tonight to show you how it ended up. there were a lot of shaving flying around from the acetal backplate so i was scared some of it would somehow ruin my graphics card, but i did a thorough clean up with compressed air and q-tips and i'm happy to say that the graphics card is working perfectly fine
graphics card in, ready for the first fill up!
and so it begins. leak test.
used this as a fill port (with a bitspower plug), and i simply just curve the tubing and hide it in the optical bay when not in use.
raystorm during leak test. lots of bubbles!
still leak testing, but took out the paper towels and put in the hulk for a better looking picture
raystorm, post-leak test. free of bubbles, and a bit opaque from the lighting/flash (UV reactive coolant does this)
pump config, post-leak test. once again, flash made the coolant react, but the bottom right is a better indication of coolant colour/transparency when not under uv lighting
top of the reservoir. compression fitting probably would've made it look busier
snapshot of the uv green orings from the fittings showing through the waterblock. i also took this picture because there is a noticeable strain on the pcb from the waterblock. did some research and it seems to be perfectly normal. i still went ahead and made a temporary fix for it though (you will see later)
for lighting, i found that the puk and lazer LED's were useless in terms of lighting up the coolant. they needed to be REALLY close to the tubing, and when they did react, it would be in visible polka dots because of how the LEDs are aimed. so, i just stuck with the single phobya flexlight which is extremely bright. too bright, even, but i will have to live with it.
the adhesive that came with the LED strip was terrible, and the rubbery material it was made of also made my double sided tape useless. and so, i had to use zip ties and fastened one end to the bottom of the case, and had it go straight up the side of the window
here's the light show, but the camera picked up the uv lighting too well, it's not THAT purple! the coolant, however, is pretty accurate.
not too happy about how purple the phobya lights turned out to be, so the white LED's that are coming will probably what i will go with. i'll upload more once they arrive!
another shot with my camera set to "fireworks" mode (low light capture). mind you, these pictures are all taken with my phone, so i was glad it had this function. once again, this is not an accurate depiction of the lights, as the purple is a bit more noticeable than this.
as for the sagging graphics card fix, i took out the shield for a lightbulb from a lamp i found. it was such a perfect fit that it was kind of creepy. i put an elastic band just to prevent it from scratching the gpu water block and my psu, but i will eventually come up with another fix that's less noticeable. once again, colour is not that accurate!
overall, i'm pretty happy with my build! it was extremely fun to do, except for the sore fingers the next day from tightening compression fittings. i think my extensive planning and choosing the most suitable parts helped make the experience a lot smoother than it could have been, and i'm glad i put in all the time beforehand. really worth the effort. really suggest you guys do the same!
if only the backplate had worked out, this would have been a perfect build log, but we all come across obstacles like these once in a while. i'm just glad it wasn't a problem with something important like a water block or radiator. hope you guys enjoyed this build log even half as much as i enjoyed building it!
Cheers!
-Ryan
