WarGasm - Project: Stealth

[WarGasm]

So I thought I'd put together a build log for another upgrade that I'm doing over the winter period.

As we all know, tech moves on at such ridiculous pace, that over the past 3 or so years since I put together my first gaming rig, I've gone through it all... air cooling, liquid cooling, dual cores, quad cores, GeForce 200, 400 and 600 Series graphics cards, SSD caching, dedicated SSD's. You name it, I've experimented with it.

So I finally thought I'd finally take the plunge and go through a *massive* upgrade, to the point where I will (hopefully) be happy with my rig for the forseeable future.

Specs for my current rig are:
Case - Fractal Design Define R3
Motherboard - Asus P8Z68 Deluxe G3
CPU - Core i7 2600K
Cooler - Zalman CNPS9900 MAX
RAM - Corsair Vengeance 8GB (1600MHz)
GPU - EVGA GTX670 4GB Superclocked
HDD - WD Caviar Green 1TB
SSD (Cache) - Corsair Force3 - 60GB
Optical - LG BD-ROM/DVD-RW
PSU - Corsair HX850 Semi-Modular

In weighing up my choices for the upgrade, the four goals are as follows:

1. I've decided firstly that I plan to go back to watercooling. Being the enthusiast, it would be nice to get some decent cooling on my components as I plan to overclock both CPU and GPU.

2. If I'm watercooling, I'd like to have some decent real estate in a new case, so I can house a custom watercooling loop. Last time the watercooling got a bit messy with long hose runs in a small case and it just looked dreadful.

3. In a bid to try and *futureproof* :lol: my rig, I'm planning to get a second GTX 670 and run the two in SLI. Generally speaking, this should suit my needs for the most part. But the crucial question remains - when it's released, will it run Crysis 3?

4. And finally, being a gamer aswell, I've got the parts sitting around for a server that I previously built. That server needs a new motherboard, so I'll be promoting my current MoBo to server duty, and getting a new motherboard that fits the bill in terms of where I'm taking this new build/upgrade.


Specs for the finished product are as follows:

Case - NZXT Switch 810
Motherboard - Asus Maximus V Formlua
CPU - Core i7 2600K
RAM - Corsair Vengeance 16GB (1866MHz)
GPU - EVGA GTX670 4GB Superclocked (x2)
SSD - Corsair Force3 - 240GB
HDD (Storage Drive) - WD Caviar Green 1TB
Optical - LG BD-ROM/DVD-RW
PSU - Corsair HX850 Semi-Modular

Watercooling Loop:-
EK Waterblock on CPU
EK Waterblocks on VRM and Chipset
EK Full Cover Waterblocks on GPUs
XSPC D5 Pump
Alphacool XT45 - 420mm (Top) and 240mm (Bottom)
Bitspower Res - 250mm
Bitspower Fittings

So why Stealth you ask?

Well, I've opted for a black case, and I absolutely love the look of the Maximus V Formula. A very subtle-looking motherboard, no vivid colours, save a few tasty red accents. Keeping a colour scheme to a 'stealthy-black' nature, as well as keeping the rig near silent when it's complete, will hopefully live up to its stealthy name. So that's that...

I had been doing myself in over the past few weeks, trying to decide on a colour scheme - red or black coolant?? Anyways, I think black would look better with the MVF, but let me know if you disagree.

A question for you guys...

I did want to pose a question as I haven't yet purchased any fittings or hose. What are your thoughts on tubing size? I'm either going for 10/8mm or 13/10mm, but I honestly can't decide.
Last time I went for 13/10mm but the hose looked somewhat chunky in my case. Bearing in mind this was a pretty small case, it may have just been perspective... so let me know your thoughts, thanks


I've already started the build and am just in the process of sorting out some photos and stuff, so keep your eyes peeled... there's more to come! :rock:

 

[tinytomlogan]

7/16 ID hose and 1/2 barbs

 

[WarGasm]

No way - a personal reply from TTL himself! Badass... nice one for the advice dude, it's always appreciated

 

[CPMFW]

sounds very promising

 

[WarGasm]

Build Update - 13/12/12

OK, as promised, I've finally managed to get some photos uploaded.

Generally speaking, I think this is only as far as the build is going to get, this side of Christmas. Hopefully over the next couple of weeks I'll be able to grab a bargain on another GTX 670 and then I'll be well on my way.

Kudos to Tom for giving me a quick tip on the watercooling side of things (nice one!) - with that in mind, I'll start getting the rest of my watercooling bits after the festive period, which is basically now only hose and barbs (although compression fittings are still kinda tempting me!)

Anyway, here's a quick account of where I've started from, and where I am with things as of this evening...

Case - NZXT Switch 810

Well, there isn't a huge amount to say about this, except that I adore it! Without question, the best watercooling case I've bought over the years. The case is deceptively large - it doesn't have too much of a 'presence' on the outside, but there is an absolute ton of space on the inside... plenty enough for the custom watercooling loop. Love it.

I've essentially gutted the case of the parts that I don't need. So this is really the stock fans and HDD cages. Everything else will have some use, such as the hot-swap bay, and I like to keep an optical bay on-hand, just in case.

I'll showcase a few photos of the case but keep it minimal, as there are more photos, that are not only better quality, but marginally more interesting

[Case in the process of being streamlined...]

[Case with HDD cages removed... the fans have been removed, but this is a 'before' photo]

Next... Motherboard

Time to break out the Asus Maximus V Formula. As mentioned before, this board just looks the Mac-Daddy, no questions asked. In preparation for the watercooling loop, I thought it would make sense to get the blocks on now, and get the board mounted in the case.

The waterblock on the CPU is the EK Supremacy CSQ Nickel + Plexi. I know, I know.. the design is a bit marmite. Not quite as awesome as some of EK's past designs, but I must admit, it is starting to win me over!

Waterblocks on the VRM and chipset are also EK Supremacy CSQ Nickel + Plexi. Makes sense to go with a matching set for the aesthetics. I was disappointed upon fitting the VRM block to find out that EK had short-changed me of a M2.5x4mm machine screw. Shame! I've had to order some off eBay but no real drama - hopefully they'll arrive tomorrow...

[CPU socket mounts ready, block about to go on!]

[CPU waterblock mounted - now for the VRM/chipset...]

[VRM waterblock installed...]

[Chipset waterblock installed!]

[The troublesome 'missing screw' for the VRM waterblock...]

[And here she is, being swallowed whole by my bohemoth Switch 810!]

Moving on to...

GPU


I was quite surprised when I received the waterblock for my GTX 670. Having never done watercooling of a graphics card, I was quite overwhelmed with how heavy these full cover blocks are!!

Anyways everything fitted as it should - no short-changing of screws with this one! You'll see from the photos that the back of the card looks hideous... a backplate has been sent today by Overclockers and should be here in the morning. Once that arrives, that'll be whacked on straight away and it can take its rightful place alongside the MoBo...

[Underbelly of the GTX 670, having realised that I hadn't taken a photo before applying the thermal pads!]

[Graphics card block. Job done.]

[Naked PCB - she'll be covered up in no time at all ]

The last part of this was pretty simple, just transplanting the PSU from one case to another. Not fussed about cable management just yet, as there will be dozens of other cables running round the back of the case. Once everything is in, that'll be taken care of in due course.

[The build so far...]

So there we have it ladies and germs... hopefully it won't be too long before I can actually carry on with this.

Having started to document my build process on the forums, I really want to see this through to completion as soon as I can. Partly because I don't have a PC at the moment and partly because I'm getting so into the building process, I don't want to stop!

Anyways, let us know your thoughts if you have any. As I said, hopefully I can post an update just after the festive period.

Hope you enjoyed the update!

Peace.

 

[The Orange One]

Nice Wok Mate!

 

[Choklitmlk]

good job so far, looks like the big brother of my project

 

[WarGasm]

good job so far, looks like the big brother of my project

I just had a read through your build thread. I'm really intrigued to know how yours will turn out, as I do have a bit of a soft spot for the Define Mini... that case almost housed my server but I opted for the Define R3 instead! Will definitely follow progress on your build though

I also noticed you're based in NZ... I was over there at the start of the year for just over a month. Love it, 'tis a beautiful place

 

[DiscoDave]

I like your documenting. Keep it up and good luck with the build.

 

[WarGasm]

I like your documenting. Keep it up and good luck with the build.

Thanks muchly. Hopefully the rest of my watercooling parts will arrive in the morning and I can start putting everything together! ^_^

 

[The Orange One]

Can't wait for the update!

 

[sheroo]

I like those EK blocks, lookin' good fella.

 

[wassupdoc]

Very nice start, this will turn out very nice i'm sure

 

[dalewakelin]

Nice, cant wait to see more

 

[WarGasm]

WarGasm - Project: Stealth (Completed 05/01/13)

Good evening all!

As it has been an age since I've been on here, I'd firstly like to say I hope you all had a great Christmas and a (hopefully) prosperous New Year.

So... it has been a long, LONG time since I posted any progress with my 'Stealth' build. But I have good news folks, it is FINISHED!

Before I furnish you with all the fancy photos and tell you about how many hitches the build had, I'd just like to say that now this is complete, I have never been so unbelievably proud of a PC build in the god-knows-how-many years I've been doing this.

I hope that this provides a bit of inspiration or direction to those of you considering building a new rig, or exploring watercooling, or whatever. It hasn't been necessarily easy, but that's all part of the challenge of building a rig to call your very own...

And for those of you that are veterans in the PC building arena, get your nerd-boners ready! This is some awesome rig p0rn


OK. So, the reason I didn't update my log for so long, was that at first, no real progress was being made, as I've started a new job and had to wait a little while for my first paycheck to come in... That, and the expense of Christmas, didn't leave a huge amount of room to buy the components I needed. Anyway, I managed to get everything in, just after New Year.

Some of the components I may not have taken photos of, but will tell you about what I used, why I used it etc...

So I left off last time, having fitted the waterblocks to the motherboard - CPU, VRM and Chipset.

GPU No. 2

My second GPU came, which is the EVGA GTX 670 4GB SC+ edition. I bought my first one about 6 months ago and in terms of graphics performance, I am very happy with it (even more so, now I have it in SLI!)

I received my EKWB backplates for the cards, although one I bought from OcUK was damaged, so had to get a replacement in. So here are the graphics cards with both waterblocks, one of the backplates and the EKWB 'Bridge-Link' adapter...

Reservoir

The first issue that I bumped into was a reservoir... Now for a case this big, I can't imagine (retrospectively) it would have been that difficult to squeeze in a tube res into the case. There were holes that ran parallel to the right-hand edge of the motherboard that I could bolt the brackets to, but after experimentation, it became very difficult to route power cables/data cables for various drives as well as the 24-pin ATX cable.

So I ended up getting both a 150mm and a 250mm tube res to see which would be a better option. In the end, I chose neither, and went for an XSPC Dual Bay Res for a single D5 pump. I've always had my reservations about bay reservoirs, but I think they are a winner, if you route your tubing properly.

Tubing

So this briefly takes me onto tubing & connectors... I've gone slightly against the recommendations of the Guv'nor (apologies Tom, will explain why in a sec!), I decided to nudge down to 13/10mm tubing. Reason being, I not only found getting the tubing on the fittings a pain in the arse (and hands), I couldn't quite get the tight tube runs that I was hoping for. I didn't want to sacrifice cooling performance, and given a realistic difference of about 1-2 degrees, it made sense. Plus, I moved to compression fittings and not barbs - personal experience with CF's has served me well, so why change the habit of a lifetime eh?

Radiators

OK, so the plan initially was to use a 420mm triple 140mm rad in the top, and a 240mm in the bottom.

The spacings weren't quite right for a 420mm rad, so I went down to 360mm in the top. As I write this, I can't remember if this was mentioned in Tom's review of the NXZT Switch 810 - if it was, then my bad, I didn't listen. If not, now you know

Initially I went with Alphacool's XT45 radiators, and after discovering one of them was defective, by way of it not being air/water-tight, I sent it back. Shopped around for another but everywhere was out of stock!

In the end I sent both rads back, and ordered two Phobya 60mm radiators. Instead of running a push-pull config as initially planned, I am now running just a pull config, but figure the extra rad thickness will still positively contribute to effective watercooling anyway.

The final stages!

OK so with an (almost) new array of watercooling bits, they all fit together perfectly. I rejigged some of the tube runs to account for a bay res instead of a tube res, but as it turns out, this has actually worked in my favour.

So last Saturday, having started working on Stealth at about 10am, I was finally ready to fill her up at about 7pm. Here she is, all set, and ready to go!

Bit of free advertising for Mayhems X1 Cooling Fluid!

And finally, just under 2 litres later, Project: Stealth has now come to life!

The bleeding process was pretty full-on for a build like this, but everything appears to have calmed down now. I just have an absolute powerhouse, quietly purring under my desk.

Next steps will definitely be OC'ing, and hopefully I'll be able to report back some benchmarks in the not-too-distant future.

I sincerely hope you guys have enjoyed this, apologies again for the delay. If any of you folk have any questions or feedback, or anything about the build itself, I'll happily fill in when I can.

If some of the photos haven't come out that well, then I've got buckets of them if you want any close-ups etc, give me a shout.

Hopefully your nerd b0ners have been nursed - mine sure has :lol:

 

[MrKambo]

oh wow

i actually like that alot, especially them water blocks!

 

[dalewakelin]

Very nice

 

[FTR.4500MHz]

Sexy rig mate !