Time Sync.

[Cenedd]

That's not an unfair comment - there isn't exactly much going on in the way of fins on that heatsink. For me it looks better....for when you then stuff it away where you can't see it but it also protects it a bit and makes it harder to connect things in the wrong place or mis-aligned when you can't really see what you're doing. For reference, this is the best pic I've got of what mine looks like when it wasn't embedded in the dark recesses of my case (click for bigger picture).

 

[AlienALX]

If I could get the full cover heatsink like that one I would. Even though I can't see it I think they look nice. But this version (5 LT) does not have one, only a tiny alu fin thing just for one tiny part. If anything it makes it look worse.

I must remember to run all of the temperature probes dude. I keep forgetting I have them.

Last night I realised (now the res is all cleaned up) that I had no bolts to fit it to the holder. So I have ordered some M10 (EDIT M4 10mm, that is what you get for posting before you have woken up and had coffee) and some more black nuts. I also need a USB cable to run the PA3 into the hubby, but the only guy who has them on Ebay is away until the 14th so I can't even order one.

Other than that? I should be able to start meaningful assembly some time next week. I got held up this weekend from going away, as something went wrong with my Xbox addy for delivery (sodding Microsoft) so that should come today along with my FO76. As soon as both land I need a break, so will be going over to see my mother for a few days.

I do need to clean the fittings, but I want to soak them in vinegar to get rid of the oily deposit I found in the res. I think the coolant may have "split" or contained some sort of mineral oil which separated. Mind you it had been running for 10 months with no maintenance at all, so fair play. Either way I want to soak them in something acidic to remove any trace of any oils or what not.

I am also having a personal crisis about whether to use the red fittings as I planned, or because it is so lovely and monotone in there use the white ones.

A few days to think it over should work out better.

 

[Cenedd]

A 5LT? I thought you said it was a 6LT. No, the heatsink for the 5 looks horrible, provides little protection and has no labelling. It does have fins though so it might actually be more effective as a heatsink! They do a waterblock for that too if you want to massively complicate your loop!

 

[AlienALX]

Nah never said 6LT. Not for £29

The only bit I am bummed about is that the 5LT can not use the remote thing that is only about a tenner. 'cos you know, boys and their toys like. Other than that it does everything I needed it to and more, and cost less than a PA3. Apparently it has no IR sensor, even though there is a socket on it saying IR sensor. So it looks like there's a socket for a sensor they must have been thinking about making, but for whatever reason decided not to. Then again, there's a high likelihood that the sensor wouldn't have worked any way, being buried in the depths of the case.

Remember, I have a fan going in down there. That will blow directly over all of the electronics. That ought to do it.

 

[Cenedd]

Well, I did think you'd got a good deal! I've not got a 5 to look at but on the 6, the IR receiver is part of the screen slice of the unit. You can see the little black pimple next to the spinning fan on the screen of the pic I posted above. Anatomy of the Aquaero here for interest. The IR header on the main board slice (the screen is entirely optional) is described in the manual as being for a future IR transmitter rather than a receiver. It's also for 'future use' but I'm not sure if it was ever implemented. But yeah, it wouldn't have picked up the signal anyway locked in the depths of your case. Unless you're going to try to use it for media PC use (it can emulate a keyboard and a mouse), you'd never use it anyway. I thought I would but I've not touched it once I got it set up through Aquasuite.

 

[AlienALX]

I did have a play with Aquasuite. After the initial "da fuq?" I realised the AE needed a firmware update (I spent about 20 mins trying to figure out why I could not change anything, then saw the message in red). Any way, was simple to drop the voltage. That is why I decided to also run the 92 and 80mm fans off of it, as they would no doubt be very noisy otherwise. I also had a quick play with Farbwerk, again was quite easy to use.

Another thing that is concerning me is the copper GPU block. I don't think it will fit in with the build, and I don't want to spend £150 on a new block and plate, even though the Watercool blocks are drool worthy. Mind you, I also want to use the WC back plate, so maybe I will try and cover some of the copper with black vinyl (odd shape, though). I've also had another idea (uh oh) regarding covering the end of the card with a piece of acrylic (where the caps etc are).

IDK, we will see I guess.

 

[Cenedd]

Black Hammerite? Smooth or hammered finish. Should go on copper apparently.

 

[Warchild]

A 5LT? I thought you said it was a 6LT. No, the heatsink for the 5 looks horrible, provides little protection and has no labelling. It does have fins though so it might actually be more effective as a heatsink! They do a waterblock for that too if you want to massively complicate your loop!

Dont really get it when you say no labelling. My 6XT is fully labelled without the heatsink so I have never had trouble. Even the USB 5pin connector is colour coded. Didn't seem like that on the heatsink. Also, you chose black over red so in the dark it feels like there is no improvement

@ Alien,
The remote is a useless gimmick. The navigation is terrible. The only useful part is renaming things. But, since the software loads instantly, you will have far easier time just going straight into aquasuite.

So yeah like Cenedd, my remote is unused and tossed in the drawer. You aren't missing out on anything at all there.

Regardless though, ever since switching to the 6XT, I can't think of a single controller that comes close to being as good as this. 5 and 6 series = wonderful purchase.

 

[AlienALX]

Problem with not being able to see the AE sorted.

Ended up costing me £1.45 lmao. It'll work, too

 

[Cenedd]

Nice. How do they even make that for the price?! Even if it's not stainless steel the raw materials alone cost more than that!

 

[AlienALX]

China, no doubt. It may even ship from there but I am not in a hurry for it. Will be nice to make sure it went in OK and isn't hitting anything etc.

 

[AlienALX]

OK just a quick update. I am not at the PC ATM I am away until next Monday. I needed a break, as I was starting to get sick and skipping doses of my meds (to have the energy to work on my PC) but when I do that everything else suffers. So I wasn't eating properly or sleeping properly etc. Nearly two weeks of it took its toll so I took a break to get some rest for the final push !

One thing I needed was some sort of T piece. I need to hook in the temp sensor for the VFD on the front, but had nowhere to put it. I want it in the front really, so the cable doesn't need any tampering with. I have some chrome and smoked chrome T pieces, but then I need rotatries and male-male adapters and so on. Way too much agg. Cue this.

The most expensive fitting I have ever bought at £13, but this is why I fell for it. Not only is it rotary (think of it coming out of the pump sideways with the hole there ^ aiming backward for me to fit the water temp sensor) but it also has this.

So it's basically a very tidy way to get a neat pass through on a rotary with a G 1/4 hole facing backward for the temp sensor. So I got it.

 

[Warchild]

I have two of them on my loop. One for the exact reason you chose. Temp sensor. So as it leaves the second 480 rad and back down to the res, I have my temp sensor picking up there.

 

[Cenedd]

That looks a nice piece, will works for so on. You know that pass-through sensors exist though, right? Just for future reference: Aqua Computer pass-through temp sensor

 

[AlienALX]

I have two of them on my loop. One for the exact reason you chose. Temp sensor. So as it leaves the second 480 rad and back down to the res, I have my temp sensor picking up there.

Yeah definitely the cleanest way I reckon. I've gone through loads of ideas, but that was probably the cheapest solution. the Q alone (non rotary all female) isn't much cheaper and then you need to buy a rotary to connect it to the pump and so on. All a PITA.

The best location for the temp probe is in the pump area, as then I can basically hide the wire almost out of sight. Anywhere else and I would probably need to extend it.

I worked out about a week back or so that the best way to hook up the GPU is to take it from behind (lolz) and plug up the holes at what will be the front ('cause it's vertical) with nice premium caps. I don't know what I have and don't have tbh (forgotten, due to all of the other stuff melting my brain) so I will check them all when I get back and see what I have.

What's annoying is as I type this I can see two black premium fittings in the rig I am on, but of course there is no way to drain/swap without, well, draining and swapping.

That said at around £8 for two it's totally not worth it.

 

[Warchild]

That looks a nice piece, will works for so on. You know that pass-through sensors exist though, right? Just for future reference: Aqua Computer pass-through temp sensor

Yeah I have one. But the chrome ring stands out for me. It also increases your fittings total.

Its useful, but with my Q block placed above my res, the sensor is very discreet. Looks like a basic BP Stopper.

 

[AlienALX]

That looks a nice piece, will works for so on. You know that pass-through sensors exist though, right? Just for future reference: Aqua Computer pass-through temp sensor

Aye, but as Warchild said it has a chrome ish ring on it that just would not go with everything else. I could have painted it, but that is PITA. Deffo worth bearing in mind for anything I may do in the future though.

 

[AlienALX]

Got the Q connector yesterday. What a lump it's perfect, though.

OK, so it was time to think about what I needed. I needed another one of these to make a pair.

I already know for sure I have one. I want to feed the loop into the GPU from behind to make it cleaner, and that means having a matching pair of plugs to go in the front. That should sort that now. I also had to wait over a week for the guy that makes these to come back from holiday.

I was one short and wanted it to connect up the PA3 to the hubby. That should be about it now. I have also ordered more fan extensions, so the next job up is to finish labelling the fans and connecting them all up. I am hoping to really push when I get back on Monday, and hopefully have this finished up soon. Not been very well, so basically came to my mother's and have slept most of the week. Funny how I am now learning my limitations, and not pushing myself to suicide by forcing myself to carry on.. Mental illness, thank god for every day you are OK.

 

[AlienALX]

OK am back. Feel better. Bit anxious, but then I am trying to finish the build in my head in ten minutes and that isn't going to happen. Had a bit of a mishap earlier which did its level best to bum me out, but I pulled myself through.

Basically I was upgrading the RAM and finishing up the Triad for server duties (fitting all of the PCIE covers, you know boring s**t). Any way, I thought "Let me just release the right side panel so I can run this fan extension off to a molex" and then it slid and I heard this sickening crunch. Looked over, it had landed on one of my cherished valve amps. It shattered the acrylic valve guard before smooshing the valve. The valve had come out, and the legs were badly bent. Instead of smashing things up (like I normally would) I had a wave of calm come over me. I sat and bent all of the valve legs back, pushed it back in and amp works fine. Big phew, glad it didn't die. Seems valves are far more robust than I ever gave them credit for.

OK so today I began by dipping and soaking all of the fittings in straight white vinegar. Then I rinsed them off with cold water, then I dried them all. It took ages, it stunk, and it wasn't very pleasant. And that has been the build for a while really. Nothing I've done has been fun for ages and it has all been spade work due to my over complicated design.

However, I got there eventually.

Just turn it 90' counter clockwise in your mind and you will know how it should look. I can't bolt it into the PC yet as I need access before hand. So it will need to go in second to last (just before the front panel, which will cover access to the screws).

Like I say, all has to be done in order. And that has been the biggest challenge. Whilst that assembly looks pretty basic there are literally mms in it. Like bolt length so nothing fouls etc. Very happy with it, finally something I designed can be seen.

Next up? more wiring. At least it's given me a positive kick in the ass, though.

 

[AlienALX]

After a marathon wiring session I have gotten a whole crap load done.

Apols for horrid photos, had to resort to flash (ahhhhh, he saved every one of us !)

It's getting just a little busy down there.. I have now glued all of the connectors to the AE, so that can go in tomorrow. I then need 3 more fan extension cables, but I ordered those on Saturday so they should be here Weds.