Well, here goes, my first running worklog for a computer project. You guys here at DIY-Street have inspired me and I'm gonna go with watercooling, overclocking and of course, Case Modding (My favorite)...

So lets start with a list of hardware that I'm gonna be using, of course this will change later for some reason or another, so check back often enough if this thing interests you.

Ultimately, this build started out because I wanted a quieter, less visible rig than the current light show/Tornado I have now (pics in the case pic thread, search for UVT). All of you guys here at DIY-Street got me interested in watercooling and maybe overclocking.

• Motherboard:DFI Lanparty UT nF4 SLi-DR Expert
• CPU: Athlon 64 X2 4400+ 939
• GPU: 2x Forsa 7900GTX
• Memory: 2GB OCZ Platinum EL Dual Channel 2-3-2-5
• Case: Lian-Li PC-G70 Silver
• PSU: Corsair HX620W
• Hard Drives: 4x120GB Maxtor SATA in RAID 0+1, 80GB WD SATA
• DVD-RW, 3.5" Nexus Fan Controller, Black Sleeved Cables
• Neoprene Case Lining

And the Watercooling gear:

• CPU Block: Danger Den RBX
• GPU Blocks: Danger Den Koosahs
• Chipset Block: Danger Den Maze4 Chipset for DFI Expert
• Radiator: 240mm Black Ice X-Flow, Dteck pro 120mm
• Pump: MCP355 w/Petra Top + MCP650
• Tubing: UV Blue Primoflex 1/2" ID
• Accessories: DD Fillports, Poly Barbed Ts, Quick Release Clamps

Most of the hardware is from my current rig, nothing majorly new there, but the watercooling gear is all new to me. In fact, when I picked up the Radiator at the post office, I officially had my first water cooling component :-)

After working out the following diagram, I decided that it wouldn't be as silent as I intended, with 5 fans and all, so I got in touch with likewhoa in the for sale/trade forum and bought some neoprene to line the case with.



It's a little out of proportion, but it just gives a general idea of the setup. At this point I'm not even sure how to daisy chain the pumps, so any input would be appreciated! I'm thinking probably input to the more powerful, and output from the lesser... maybe I'll time how long it takes to pump 5 gallons in both directions and the fastest is what I'll use.

I'll worry more about the watercooling setup when the rest gets here :-) for now heres a few pics from the beginning stages of the build:

All photos can be found here: http://www.ocidb.com/thumbnails.php?album=112

Big Daddy!


A few rivets drilled and the top was gone...


A few more rivets and this useless piece was gone...


But the radiator still didn't fit where I wanted it:


So out came the dremel:


And out came the piece in the way:-)


And the radiator fits... finding screws that would hold it in place was a pain though... and I actually had to drill some new mounting holes int he rad... Only problem left can be seen in the close-up.. the hole to the right of the mounting hole is where the side panel thumbscrew goes, so I'll have to cut out a small piece around the radiator mounting screw... god I love my dremel, lol





What a messy workshop!
[img]http://www.ocidb.com/albums/userpics/10017/IMG_1689.JPG[/img]

And finally the back. I chose not to cut out sections of the frame because I don't want to limit my options for future mods and builds... that Rad may never move, but I'm not gonna take the chance... it will at least look good once I have the frame all painted black...
[img]http://www.ocidb.com/albums/userpics/10017/IMG_1700.jpg[/img]




Ok, well thats it for now... I have my LCD screen to plan out and cut the top open for, then getting the other rad, pumps and system hardware all sorted out. Next time I post there should be a whole lotta changes!

Future plans:

Once I have it all up and running in the currently silver case, I'll take the side panels, top front panel, feet and bay device bezels and send them off to the future father in-law to have painted with a blue-black chameleon paint job... can't wait... automobile paint looks amazing on a case :-)

I'm also looking at a huge 250mm fan to blow from the side panel straight down on the MB... and maybe some ramsinks to cool the mosfets etc if they get too hot with no fans right there on the MB...

Thanks for looking/reading... I'll post more after this weekend's modding sessions...

If you plan to run two pumps in a series they should be the same model. Besides that everything looks fine. And good luck with your build.

Just wondering, why would they have to be the same model? I would have thought that as long as neither of the pumps is is 'under supplied' of water that it'd be fine... maybe I'm wrong... If I have to I'll ditch one of these pumps in the for sale/trade section and get a matching one...

You might want to consider, instead of a Y, taking each output from the RBX and going into each SLI block. I saw CPU Killer from Danger Den do that in one of his setups.

Damn fine idea, thanks! I originally was going to have one output go to the chipset and one to the koosahs, but I was strongly recommended not to because the water will take the path of least resistance like electricity, but since the blocks are the same on the gpus, it would be feasible... I'll post an updated diagram with what I come up with... The koosahs can be swapped to output from either side right? from what I understand, there's two holes on each side of the block, one on each side getting plugged and the other used... have to figure it out when they get here...

Ok, after a little fooling around I managed to test out my 10.4" LCD that I will mount in the top of the case. God was it a pain, didn't know that Nvidia's drivers won't display on 2 displays while in SLI mode... Maybe I'll get an el-cheapo PCI graphics card to output to the LCD... hey, I know, an old ATI Rage 3D just to piss off my 7900GTXs :-) or a Matrox Millennium or something... only needs to do 640x480

Gotta get a cable to use the touchscreen that goes with it...

One other idea I had was to use one of those virtual workstation programs to have a parallel Linux install running and displaying temps and stats about the rig... I believe I could dedicate a pci display adapter to that virtual machine and just give it enough resources for what I need... Who knows, that's something to play with when the build is finished... the display will be there no matter what... just because I can :-)

Pics:

I'd keep everything in series and Y the RBX outlets together right after the CPU; lower flowrates through the GPU blocks would be worse than the slightly higher H2O temp on the 2nd GPU block.

Running different pumps in series could be an issue since they run at different flow-rates; put parallel should be fine; or just get a D5/MCP655

parallel? You mean y before the pumps then y after?

That's it.

Still waiting on my RBX... taking forever, but such is life overseas... lol

I have an Apogee waterblock... maybe tomorrow I'll throw the thing together and just switch the blocks out when the RBX gets here. I already got antsy yesterday and threw everything into the case. I've decided to hold off on painting until I get back to the states, this silver is actually pretty nice.

I bought a couple lian-li aluminum optical drive bezels from performance-pcs... so much better than teh generic ones! Like I said before, I'll never buy another brand of case again...

Fired up the computer for the first time just now with the watercooling installed... I'm not impressed with this pump, the 650 I mean... that noise is annoying! I'll be getting a 655 ASAP! the rest is fine, It's giving me moderately low temps, even with 4 blocks, only the one pump and only a 240mm radiator...

Not too much trouble, all was much easier than I expected. leak tested the components all day outside the case, then mounted all the blocks and got it all installed... all in under 24 hours, lol nah, not that long, but most of the afternoon and evening...

Note to self: Next time connect tubing to the chipset block BEFORE you get the videocards situated, connected and ready to go...

I'll post pics when I can find my camera... Next week I'll be mounting the touchscreen display... nabbed an old 3dfx voodoo pci card to run it...


By the way, been at 100% cpu for 30 minutes now and still under 40C... *pats himself on the back* now to try it with the fans dialled all the way down...

Well, after trying an MCP355 pump with Petra top, I decided to go with a D5... bought one here at the street and got it in the mail a few days ago... it's a little noisier than the 355, but seems slightly more powerful. It runs a lot cooler too... the 355 got a little hot after a while of running full-pelt. Along with the D5, I also got another rad, a 120 mm something or other... there's no branding, so who knows, lol How are you supposed to identify these things?

I made brackets and mounted the rad in the empty drive bays at the front of the case... I figured with a car paint job (eventually) It'd be cool to have a radiator at the front like a car... here's some pics:

The difference between the old Koosah (in back) and the one I just got from DD... the old one actually cools a little better...


Old PCI-Slot covers make good mounting brackets :-)


The whole shebang:


and the front radiator:



Sorting the mess of wires is pointless at this stage, even though they're driving me nuts... I want to do it once, when the project is finished. I was going to get the LCD mounted and set up, but decided to go ahead and finish the watercooling setup first. I think I've got it where I want it, temperature wise, so I can move on to other things. Neoprene lining is going in tonight if I get time, and during the week I'll work on cutting a hole in the top for the LCD. Part of the frame has to go to get the LCD in, so it'll be a lot of dremel work... fun...

Looks pretty cool. I like how roomy the case is. And the workshop isn't too bad - it could be as messy as mine.

Looks awesome man, keep up the good work. As good as that looks you make me want to go watercooling myself

thanks for the good comments guys!

Lined the front panel with neoprene tonight, what I thought was gonna take 5 minutes ended up taking an hour but it was worth it... the front rad is now surrounded in pseudo-black neoprene...

can't be arsed to do any more tonight, had to switch out my old desk for the new one my father built for me... he did a damn fine job of it, and it's HUGE:



damn thing makes my 22" monitor look tiny, lol... but anyway, now all I have energy for is a few rounds of Bodog poker and a couple episodes of 24 season 6 ^^

Awesome desk. Is that whole thing ~2" thick, or just the edging?

The outside border is ~3" thick, the inside is about 2"thick... he glued all the boards together himself and ran metal rods though it for support and "stealthed" them. he also used two different woods, but you can't tell in the pic... he's one of those guys you see digging through all the boards at the lumber yard for the ones with the best coloring, and he's gotten good at picking them out now! Only bad thing is it's too shiny for my laser mouse... :-( so I'm using the cardboard insert from PC Gamer for a mousemat, lol

Let me guess, cherry and oak?

you should have seen it when I was building my sub boxes! lol screws, speakers, pillow insides, random miscuts, wires... *&%# was everywhere, lol

Actually, like Cherry and Pine... or some other light stuff... I can lift the thing by myself (it's awkward to carry though) but it's rock solid... If it was Oak it'd weigh a tonne!

I love wood