iLikeGreeeeen
New member
So my cousin decided to go the water cooling route after seeing my rig. Since he doesn't have a high-end card (HD 7770), I decided to grab the XSPC D5 kit with the RX360. I know the 360 is overkill for a cpu only loop, but a graphics card upgrade was not really necessary yet for the games he plays. This was just something he wanted to do from all the Christmas money he got 
He decided on a black & white colour scheme, so we went with "Venom Symbiote" for the name of the rig.
Build specs:
AMD Phenom II X4 955 BE w/ Corsair H80 cooler (my old one)
ASRock 970 Extreme 3
XFX Radeion HD R7770 GHz edition
Corsair Vengeance 1600Mhz Low Profile
OCZ Modxstream Pro 600W
Corsair Force Series 3 60GB SSD
Some hard drive from old computer
NZXT Switch 810 (White)
I cut out a little decal for the side panel next to the window. Design is done by HeadsUpStudios on deviantart. Go check him out if you like silly drawings of comic book characters
Cousin's rig on "air". You may notice a bit of carbon fiber on his graphics card. This is to cover up the red parts of the ghost technology on XFX cards.
The kit has arrived!
RX360
Dual bay reservoir
XSPC Raystorm. still impressive with the AMD mount
Compression fittings (my own little contribution to the rig)
As you guys have probably already guessed by now, the coolant I'll be using in the loop will be Mayhem's Ice White. Seeing as the coolant was going to be white, we decided to keep the reservoir black because it gave a nice contrast in the front of the case, rather than covering it with white carbon fiber wrap.
Tubed up and ready for filling!
Better look at the fitting arrangement. In total, used 6 compression fittings, one 45 degree rotary adapter, and one 90 degree adapter.
Now, I know Tom said that there was no way in the top to feed fan cables down, other than through the front (without mods), so I took the easiest route and filed down a small part of the top bezel, just enough for the cables to creep underneath. it wasn't TOO much because the bezel does not sit completely flush to the steel frame to begin with. If you take off the top, you'll see a generously sized hole that's enough to fit a handful of cables down. Unfortunately, this hole leads to the front of the motherboard tray, so there's still some hiding to do afterwards.
Loop is filled and undergoing leak test! (took the paper towels out just for the picture)
Reservoir looks very sharp, but you can still see bubbles
Decal placed on side panel. not the greatest knife-manship on the round edges, but my cousin was happy with it
Finished!
I know the zip tie on the long tubing is annoying, but it was the only way to keep that tube from sagging and ruining the look even more. The switch is such a massive case, it leaves a giant gap between the motherboard and the optical bay. A tube reservoir would've been a much more appealing option here, but the kit came with what it came with.
For lighting, I got the NZXT sleeved white 2m LEDs. Sorry these following pictures are so bad, but my camera doesn't do so well under poor lighting
Yes, a graphics card upgrade is very possible in the future, but by then this loop will have been running for a good 5 or 6 months (until his birthday). I know getting the hardware first is smarter, but I don't mind redo-ing loops, it's enjoyable for me
We will also be swapping out the fans soon. The default fans in the kit (XSPC 1650rpm) are too loud for his liking...will update when changes happen! Hope you guys like it!
Cheers!
He decided on a black & white colour scheme, so we went with "Venom Symbiote" for the name of the rig.Build specs:
AMD Phenom II X4 955 BE w/ Corsair H80 cooler (my old one)
ASRock 970 Extreme 3
XFX Radeion HD R7770 GHz edition
Corsair Vengeance 1600Mhz Low Profile
OCZ Modxstream Pro 600W
Corsair Force Series 3 60GB SSD
Some hard drive from old computer
NZXT Switch 810 (White)
I cut out a little decal for the side panel next to the window. Design is done by HeadsUpStudios on deviantart. Go check him out if you like silly drawings of comic book characters
Cousin's rig on "air". You may notice a bit of carbon fiber on his graphics card. This is to cover up the red parts of the ghost technology on XFX cards.
The kit has arrived!
RX360
Dual bay reservoir
XSPC Raystorm. still impressive with the AMD mount
Compression fittings (my own little contribution to the rig)
As you guys have probably already guessed by now, the coolant I'll be using in the loop will be Mayhem's Ice White. Seeing as the coolant was going to be white, we decided to keep the reservoir black because it gave a nice contrast in the front of the case, rather than covering it with white carbon fiber wrap.
Tubed up and ready for filling!
Better look at the fitting arrangement. In total, used 6 compression fittings, one 45 degree rotary adapter, and one 90 degree adapter.
Now, I know Tom said that there was no way in the top to feed fan cables down, other than through the front (without mods), so I took the easiest route and filed down a small part of the top bezel, just enough for the cables to creep underneath. it wasn't TOO much because the bezel does not sit completely flush to the steel frame to begin with. If you take off the top, you'll see a generously sized hole that's enough to fit a handful of cables down. Unfortunately, this hole leads to the front of the motherboard tray, so there's still some hiding to do afterwards.
Loop is filled and undergoing leak test! (took the paper towels out just for the picture)
Reservoir looks very sharp, but you can still see bubbles
Decal placed on side panel. not the greatest knife-manship on the round edges, but my cousin was happy with it
Finished!
I know the zip tie on the long tubing is annoying, but it was the only way to keep that tube from sagging and ruining the look even more. The switch is such a massive case, it leaves a giant gap between the motherboard and the optical bay. A tube reservoir would've been a much more appealing option here, but the kit came with what it came with.
For lighting, I got the NZXT sleeved white 2m LEDs. Sorry these following pictures are so bad, but my camera doesn't do so well under poor lighting
Yes, a graphics card upgrade is very possible in the future, but by then this loop will have been running for a good 5 or 6 months (until his birthday). I know getting the hardware first is smarter, but I don't mind redo-ing loops, it's enjoyable for me
We will also be swapping out the fans soon. The default fans in the kit (XSPC 1650rpm) are too loud for his liking...will update when changes happen! Hope you guys like it!
Cheers!
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