"Red vs. Blue" build/work log

[mikotan]

Hi guys.
Obviously im new to this forum. Post count no.2.
since this is a modsrigs section, i figured i'd share my rig.


1. the watercooling stuff and tools i used... the rig I worked on was an aircooled rig i built earlier in the year.


TFC 360 rad x2, XSPC restop w/ mcp355, mcw60r gpu core block, ek full board blk, HK 3.0 CPU blk, noctua and scythe fans, bitspower x-station and a spare scythe fan controller, bitspower and fesser compressions and rotaries, silver coils i made from .999 pure silver, antistatic gloves and band, tube cutter, arctic clean 1 & 2, enzotech copper sinks.

2. took out the mobo and fitted it with a fancy HK 3.0 CPU block.
I really like how heatkiller polished the copper and really flattened out the contact surface.
Really no need to lap these at all!


And a shot with flash......


3. Now time for the motherboard block. I went with the EK x58 classi block.


4. We all know stock heatsinks on the GPUs today absolutely.. well... suck.
I never did like full cover blocks, so....

I decided to go with enzotech ram sinks and a swiftech MCW60r2
Great performer imo. I did this for both GTX285s.

5. Now we go onto leak testing and bleeding




6. Rigs done, 24hour leak test free, just bleeding.


7. Pics of the rig running (tad blurred... i lost my tripod! sigh...)

Now you know why its called "Red vs. Blue"



4.2ghz OC w/ 12gb ram @ 6-7-6-18 1T
Idle temp at 38c ( 30c with airconditioner)
linx load temp at 67c (60c with airconditioner)
GPU idles at 38c (28c with airconditioner)
GPU is @ slight OC of 702mhz core, 1584 shader and 1188memory clock
GPU furmark load at 45c


when turned on theres a red glow in one half and a blue glow on the other, hence why "Red vs. Blue". thankfully the idea worked. The case is split in half between a red glow and a blue glow. Me being a fan of "blue" more so than "red", let the "blue" win. Will post pics of it when i have more time.

And heres whats inside the rig
HAF 932 (Redvs.Blue)
Evga X58 Classified (759)
i7 920 D0 1.3875vcore w/ vdroop
Mushkin 998691 6x2gb @ 1T 1.66v
X25-M 160x2 Raid0, 300gb velociraptor
1TB seagate enterprise, 500gb seagate/WD
Windows 7 Beta Build 7100
Evga GTX 285 2gb SC x2 sli
Heatkiller 3.0, TFC360 pushPull
Ek MB blk, MCW-60r gpu blk, tfc360 pushPull
Scythe reader and fan controllers
Corsair HX1000w PSU

http://www.evga.com/community/ModsRigs/comment.asp?sysid=17580
and heres a link to my modsrigs.

And some extra links to share some knowledge and opinions...
***Hyperthread on or off?******X58 Bios template***
***X58Rig/Raid/SSD/WC Setup******Watercooling Guide***

Thanks for looking.

[GhoSt]

Wow nice build, keep up the worklog as its nice to see some real pc worklogs around here.

Also welcome to acidmods.

[budgray19]

very nice rig
how much that water cooling setup run ya

welcome to acidmods. it devours you

[mikotan]

Thanks for the welcome

I'll post some more pics later.
The watercooling setup was around $600-800.
the price includes the fittings, paint, spray point, blocks of acrylic/copper, plating, etc..
Its a pricey hobby, but a satisfying one at that.

At first i wanted to paint the entire case black...
But i realized that the contrast of the two colors was diminished after testing the red vs. blue LEDs in a black board backdrop. I then just decided to not paint the case and see for myself. It worked better with the original color of the case. Maybe in the future if i have extra cash ill nickel plate the entire thing rofl. I decided to just watercool everything instead of just going CPU.

[budgray19]

extra cash for nickling indeed. lol nice build. i know water cooling setups aint cheap.

i dont see a rad. what are you doing for a cooler?

[mikotan]

yeah nickel plating isnt cheap... sigh.
Watercooling is way cheaper and easier compared to when we used to have to
build heatercores and are confined to certain thread and tube sizes...
These days... anything goes with enough info gathering and reading.

The rads are placed above the HAF932 case.

Whats strange is this placement seemed very natural for the rads. As if the rads were designed to be placed there. Though, aside from me, I have yet to see anyone do that. Its a good thing the cutouts were made by the factory there because i didnt want to dremel anymore on the case (its made of steel... not easy to work with like aluminum ><). Placed the Rads up top in that position on purpose to attain maximum cooling. Thanks goes to Hes (Shane) for his testing on different Rad placements. Inside the rig underneath the radiators are 2 more fans blowing cool air from within the case. This creates a nice cooling vent for the radiators. Ive grown to love the HAF932 case more because of this strange, but very helpful coincidence. Not to mention its hell of a lot cheaper than any other EATX++ case on the market today.


Little Paint job of how the airflow looks like...

Here are a couple other shots I took with a tripod this time lol.

Clear vert shot of the rig.


.999 pure silver coils within GPU reservoir to prevent microbe and algae formation.

[koldkiller]

I really like the look of this.

[budgray19]

props sir

[psp339]

Nice choice in parts. What fans did you use for the rad?

[mikotan]

Thanks everyone.

I used Scythe S-flex G (75cfm) intake
and Matsu$hita Minibea (70-75cfm) exhaust fans
I went watercooling for 2 main reasons, performance and silence.

[Tec_]

very nice sir. the tubing is a bit small for my taste what is it 3/8 or 1/4?  i run 1/2 in my rig. and im also not the biggest fan of your tube routing. im not bad mouthing it and i don't want you to get any bad ideas its just my opinion.

you did a great job! keep it up

[mikotan]

very nice sir. the tubing is a bit small for my taste what is it 3/8 or 1/4?  i run 1/2 in my rig. and im also not the biggest fan of your tube routing. im not bad mouthing it and i don't want you to get any bad ideas its just my opinion.

you did a great job! keep it up

I used 3/8" tubing. there is no flow difference with 1/2" tubing due to the more powerful pumps such as the DDC and the D5. Barb size, 90 bends and high restriction parts are the main cause of GPM impediment, not tubing sizes. As for the tube routing. yeah not the best job. I plan to fix it up in the near future when I am done building these acrylic pieces for it. I have more bitspower fittings coming in straight from taiwan also. Comments are very welcome. sometimes others see things that we ourselves miss. Do you have any suggestions on the tube routing?
thanks.

At the moment, you can expect the GPU tubing to be redone. The cpu tubing to be extended to give a more slacked look. And some T-fittings for a drain point. Thats pretty much it though. I set it up the way it is for performance and less for the aesthetics (though thats quite important too).

As I said its just a worklog. More to come and the design will eventually change.
I might even try the new obsidian 800d case from corsair since we got one in for testing here.

[Tec_]

I used 3/8" tubing. there is no flow difference with 1/2" tubing due to the more powerful pumps such as the DDC and the D5. Barb size, 90 bends and high restriction parts are the main cause of GPM impediment, not tubing sizes. As for the tube routing. yeah not the best job. I plan to fix it up in the near future when I am done building these acrylic pieces for it. I have more bitspower fittings coming in straight from taiwan also. Comments are very welcome. sometimes others see things that we ourselves miss. Do you have any suggestions on the tube routing?
thanks.

At the moment, you can expect the GPU tubing to be redone. The cpu tubing to be extended to give a more slacked look. And some T-fittings for a drain point. Thats pretty much it though. I set it up the way it is for performance and less for the aesthetics (though thats quite important too).

As I said its just a worklog. More to come and the design will eventually change.
I might even try the new obsidian 800d case from corsair since we got one in for testing here.

i wasn't saying that there was any thing wrong with the tubing i just prefer the looks of thicker tubes. and contradictory to thicker tubing im a minimalist i dont like seeing a lot of slack wire and tubing in computers.

but this is just all my opinion

[mikotan]

i wasn't saying that there was any thing wrong with the tubing i just prefer the looks of thicker tubes. and contradictory to thicker tubing im a minimalist i dont like seeing a lot of slack wire and tubing in computers.

but this is just all my opinion

Hahaha i see. Really isnt much i can do with wires unless i get a case like the corsair obsidian 800d. There isnt enough cabling room on the side panel of the HAF932. I like smaller tubing since there will be less kinking and in general easier to work with compared to the 1/2". 7/6" would be the best but i couldnt find the antimicrobial tubes in the right OD size. So i had to go with the 3/8" for the right tubes to kill any and all form of life in my loops. (though i just wasted a bunch cuz i decided to add some T fittings --;;;;;;

[Tec_]

ware are you buying your supplies from? and whats the back of the HAF932 look like any way you can rout your wires behind the mobo tray?

you could always buy some plexi or acrylic and use a heat gun to bend it and make custom shrouds to hide every thing you dont want seen.

i like the obsidian but there are so many cool things you can do your self to the case

[mikotan]

ware are you buying your supplies from? and whats the back of the HAF932 look like any way you can rout your wires behind the mobo tray?

you could always buy some plexi or acrylic and use a heat gun to bend it and make custom shrouds to hide every thing you dont want seen.

i like the obsidian but there are so many cool things you can do your self to the case

Yeah i was thinking of getting some alumini sheets and mold them like square boxes for the wire housing. The HAF932 has very little space behind the mobo tray. the 800d has almost 2 inches of glorious wire hiding space. I buy my supplies all over, US/taiwan/japan.

Im working on a custom rad shroud with some aluminum for the radiator up top. it will looks liek a rad bux with plexi wires. will take pics of it when i get some parts done.
As for the 4 fan wireson the HDD housing, i cant move them. need them there to connect the 4 side fans i have to the fan controller. I could route it under but i will need to buy extensions which means more wires.. meaning... need of more wire space at back of mobo tray - which i dont have. Im sure ill figure something out.

For now I am wrestling with a driver problem that has caused alot of headaches for a lot of people. quite a rather drastic one and i would caution anyone with an NF200 chip to avoid installing the 191.07 drivers from nvidia. it will cause gradual degradation and eventual hardware failure. eVGA tech is currently working on a fix now and I am in contact with them. We will see how that goes. for now my attention is focused there and the RAD alumini housing.

Thanks for the suggestion.