Finally got some time off work, so time for the annual rebuild. Only 5 months late...
My GPUs have been under air for months while I troubleshot a GPU problem. Finally got rid of the bad 470, and the bad RMA card they sent me.
This time I'll be making these changes:
Going from two loops to one series loop. Removing both MCP355's and the XSPC restops. Replacing the 355's with a single MCP35x and the V2 restop. I just got the heatsink for the bottom of the MCP35x, not sure if I'll put the 80mm fan on it.
Replacing the Swiftech XT with a blue topped copper bottom EK HF CPU block. Better flow and I got it free at the XS party.
Using the anodized blue Lamptron hoseclamps.
Well thats the major changes. I'll post pics and basic build log in a week or so.
Ahh, finally. And a quick note. This is the first pass, expect many edits etc.
I finally got time to rebuild my PC, about 4 months later than I expected. Promotion, on night shift etc etc etc.
My latest build had two loops. Same rads, but DDC355 pumps with the XSPC restops. When the 35x came out and Eddie EK (by way of Fugger) gave me a higher flow EK HF block, I decided to go to one big loop. One reason was if my GPU pump died, my system would slowly fry since the CPU auto shutoff woudn't know.....
And I wanted to spend lots mo' money and play with stuff.
I'm not getting into the pump not working, mucho pump swapouts and testing, just to find my freakin PSU decided to die on me. That cost me two friggin days on the rebuild. The 35x was fine...Grrrr.
Here is a long shot of my old rig. It has the old GTX280's in them, I have 470's now, but functionally the same. Two hose colors, two loops.
And with the new 470's.
Dunno how many of you remember my problems with one of my 470's crashing last year, but I got that all worked out through RMA. EVGA is great, bit of work, but all came out good.
So this pic, before I start the rebuild, is missing the full GPU loop.
This pic shows the back of the case, dust, and the single MCP655 and restop.
The teardown began as normal. Pulled all the WC stuff, rads, cleaned/dusted, wiped, cleaned more.
A pic of my TIM app (MX-2) from the first installation of the EK HF block rebuild. I always thought I could get a better 1-2C but I didn't want to redo it right away, was just a few weeks later. You think it was good? Not bad methinks. Temps dropped 1-2C on the redo, might be ambients, dunno.
The inside of my Swiftech XT was oxidixed. The channels were clean. It took a lot more soaking than ketchup to clean it. I did 3 times in vinegar till I was happy. Ohh a toothbrush has such fat brushes they don't really fit in the micro channels anymore. So after a few good soaks and worry it came out just fine. Odd how the oring kept the top of the micro pins clean eh? Ohh and a pic of the top before cleaning, no oxidation or missing nickle chunks.
Okay, done with the block. A picture of properly cleaning rad fans. I have harped on rad cleaning enough, yes they got the big shake. Still no vid. I put a brush to each and every fan, nook and cranny. And the mobo, tech stand, hard drives, PSU front/back, and more. I have a small compressor from Home Boy. I put it on the back porch and let it run till full then unplug and bring inside. You know how loud these little junk 3 gallon compressors are? And I had to do it 10+ times over 2 days. The wife, dog, and neighbors lived with it. Except the missus, bless her heart while watching her TV show and the compressor is right outside the TV window....
Ohh I put my 470's back on water, but that can all be seen in this thread.
I boght a LOT of Lamptron clamps last year for this rebuild. They are very snazzy looking. I will say, on my Primochill LRT 1/2ID 3/4 OD blue tubing they look very very good. They are tricky to work with. I used 10 I think. I stripped two. Always buy extra. They need to be opened up a bit to fit over my hose and Bitspower clamps. You also need to squeeze them gently with pliers to tighten. The aluminum is soft enough to strip out on the first or second thread due to the high initial stress on the threads. Once tightened, they look wonderful.
The Swiftech 35x pump is a beast. Amazing flow. Bad thing is at 100% it can be heard, very well. You will want to PWM speed control it. I ended up with 90% max, 55% min. I think, it's close to that. No problems now. 4500 RPM max, I'm at 3900ish and 2500ish and it speeds up as CPU temp rises. Silent at idle, I can barely hear it at my set max speed.
MudDoctor mentioned what he did to help bleeding with the V2 restop you can buy. Yes, do it, put the input at the top. Close off the side holes unless you want a fill tube. Add a few inch tubing with a barb INSIDE the res. It works. Give it about 1" from the bottom of the res, I went with a bit less, bleeding would be easier at 1" or so.
Bleeding was such a pain due to my fill tube off my inlet to the pump. It worked, but took a lonng time. I had a hose screwed into the top fill port, pump on water level would drop, pump off, would almost flow out of a 5" tube with a small funnel.
You can see the pics of what I changed to fill. The final top off was 40 drops or so, run for 20 min, res level would rise a gnats ***, I'd add a bit more, repeat over an afternoon. Res is full, and looking good now.
On to gratuitouss WC Pron pics, you decipher what I did end up with.
Lastly, you need one special fitting, better order two. All the time.
Many of you never had to do lan parties on ... LOL, was no word like lan.
My house was 75 ohm wired from my bedroom/sons room to the living room to my neghbors house using 10 base T conections. We was wired!
Used to set up two tables in the living room for PCs, there was NO internet gaming yet. My sons room had a PC (yes at 9 he was playing), I had a PC in my PC room, my neghbors son had a PC, the rest played in the living room, set up on tables.
We started Friday after work, went till 2PM Sunday usually. People went home, slept, left the PC behind for a few hours, started again.
Ohh, took me and a freind 30 days with 6 network cards, no idea how, no software. Using BBSes and help from a store/tech, some soldering skills, we built, I bet the first gaming network in Las Vegas in 1994.
Heady times. You have no idea what it felt like shooting your best freind in the back with a shotgun for the first time felt like wayyy back then.
I preordered DNF from Walmart.com, which came with a $10 e-credit from them too. I too can't wait to get it too.
As for the Lamptron clamps, I just ordered 8 of them (red anodized) from Frozen instead of PPCs because the shipping was so much cheaper. I am planning a build for a review of a case and decided to make it purty. Whit tubing, black case, red fans and red clamps for the build. But I am recycling most of the equipment for the build from stuff I already own. The only totally new parts will be the clamps, an RX360 and maybe a restop for the MCP355.
LAN parties were the best, I remember lugging giant towers and CRT monitors all over creation just to play some pixelated FPS games with friends. Ahh, the good old days.
Many of you never had to do lan parties on ... LOL, was no word like lan.
My house was 75 ohm wired from my bedroom/sons room to the living room to my neghbors house using 10 base T conections. We was wired!
Used to set up two tables in the living room for PCs, there was NO internet gaming yet. My sons room had a PC (yes at 9 he was playing), I had a PC in my PC room, my neghbors son had a PC, the rest played in the living room, set up on tables.
We started Friday after work, went till 2PM Sunday usually. People went home, slept, left the PC behind for a few hours, started again.
Ohh, took me and a freind 30 days with 6 network cards, no idea how, no software. Using BBSes and help from a store/tech, some soldering skills, we built, I bet the first gaming network in Las Vegas in 1994.
Heady times. You have no idea what it felt like shooting your best freind in the back with a shotgun for the first time felt like wayyy back then.
mmm LAN Parties. I remember having my PC built into an aluminum briefcase just for that reason. Nowadays I just take my laptop in the rare chance one happens.
Make sure you use the top-down tube implementation Martin suggests for the MCP35X res. It will save you many-a-bubble. I'm having to do that with the unit Swiftech sent me; my loop doesn't have enough restriction and it de-bleeds itself.
Many of you never had to do lan parties on ... LOL, was no word like lan.
My house was 75 ohm wired from my bedroom/sons room to the living room to my neghbors house using 10 base T conections. We was wired!
Used to set up two tables in the living room for PCs, there was NO internet gaming yet. My sons room had a PC (yes at 9 he was playing), I had a PC in my PC room, my neghbors son had a PC, the rest played in the living room, set up on tables.
We started Friday after work, went till 2PM Sunday usually. People went home, slept, left the PC behind for a few hours, started again.
Ohh, took me and a freind 30 days with 6 network cards, no idea how, no software. Using BBSes and help from a store/tech, some soldering skills, we built, I bet the first gaming network in Las Vegas in 1994.
Heady times. You have no idea what it felt like shooting your best freind in the back with a shotgun for the first time felt like wayyy back then.
This was before the very first Doom even had dialup. If I remember right, it was a 4 disk shareware demo.
Dialup wasn't even an option till the utility came out to translate so a modem would work. I forget the name of the utility. This was back in the day where you had to have a DOS boot disk to load drivers for the network. Or put it into your config.sys if I remember right.
I'm back, finally. Thought my 35x pump was broke due to a dribble. Ended up being the spare PSU I was using.
Temps are a bit higher on the CPU. I need to read up on the right way to install the EK HF block. Maybe needs more tighening or turned 90 degrees. Anyone got a good link I'll take it.
I crank it as tight as the springs will go. For orientation, I put the logo right-side-up to the board with the CPU the same orientation. Not sure if it's right or not, it's just what I do. FWIW.
Oh, btw, I did the trick Martin came up with and it worked great. Bled completely within minutes, save for the tiny bubbles that always take forever.
Is your EK HF nickel plated? If so you might want to get it RMA'd and get a copper version instead, what with all the nickel plating issues EK has been having.
Mine is much older than the current batch. I'll check it in 6 months. I have been watching the thread at XS.
Bleeding is slow, I need to get the PWM set up in a few days. Still got bubbles. I didn't want to use the top port for input, went with the upper side one. And yes, I can hear the pump more than the DDC3.2. PWM will fix that easily.
Temps are 4C higher on the CPU under load, GPU's are 3C less. Lower GPU's I can see, with more rad for them. Ran Prime 95 and Heaven benchmark at the same time as my last rebuild for 30 min.
CPU loads at 56-53, GPUs at 43-44. So still wayyy good.
I'll look into the mounting methods and redo my mount in a few days.
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