[Worklog] Project 'Arctic River' by Akvodio Computers

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For this project we have some amazing support from the manufacturer and from some specialists on craftsmenship side

For this project we have got this hardware:

1. Watercooling: Aquatuning (Partlist will grow with the worklog)
2. Case: be quiet! Dark Base Pro 900
3. Powersupply: be quiet! Dark Power Pro 11 l 750W
4. Mainboard: GIGABYTE GA-Z170X-Ultra Gaming
5. CPU: Intel Core i7 6700k
6. Memory: Crucial 4x4GB Ballistix Elite
7. SSD: Crucial M.2 250GB
8. GPU: Nvidia GTX1080 (Manufacturer will follow soon )

The mods will be done by us - Akvodio Computers - and with the professional help from our partners:

• Powder coating: Pulverbeschichtung Hamburg
• Acrylic: Will be announced soon
• Paintjob: Will be announced soon
  

Here a little overview for you whats coming up:

• Step: The nice, little i7 6700k will be locked up and beheaded [completed]
• Step: The case will be put up side down. Dismantel, mod, paint.
• Step: Even the PSU will not be spared. Dismantel and a new paintjob.
• Step: Our mainboard will be a victim of the screwdriver as well
• Step: Watercooling
• Step: Press the button and wait for it...
  

But until then, here are some pictures for all of you who like see rather then to read.
Insert some drummroll please:














Update 1:

Just to answer the ‚Why‘ question in advance: Yes, it is worth it.
We delid the CPU to improve the heat transfer between the CPU and the heat spreader.
To eliminate most of the risk to destroy our CPU we used the Delid-Die-Mate. Its easy to use and the perfect tool for this job. But now the real work starts.

To get the perfect result we need to get rid of the old silicon from Intel with a razor blade or a credit card. The thermal compound disappears with some alcohol. Now the heat spreader needs to be sanded down and polished to a mirror finish from the inside and the outside.

When we were done, we had the perfect finish. Now the heat spreader is flush with the CPU and we can use liquid metal for the heat transfer. The last step is to glue everything back together with some heat resistant silicone and enjoy much higher overclocks with lower temps.



We tested our CPU on our Mainboard with air cooling with 4,83GHz and 1.28V (nearly stock voltage).
With water cooling we hope to get past the 5,0GHz mark.

Stay tuned for future updates!

Your Akvodio Computers team, Timon und Marcel

Am I seeing the motherboard upside down?

Alaric said:

Am I seeing the motherboard upside down?

Click to expand...

Yes, as I see it as well?

Adventurous

Good. I'm not going crazy. Well, at least that isn't one of the symptoms. LOL

Oh wow!
Im waiting till its done!
Btw there were a series of GPUs that were FTW edition and were white coloured, Maybe get that model instead of painting a regular 1080? (If possible)

Here you go, from Galax. White PCB and all.

Very nice. Sub'd.

4,8@ 1.28V ? BEAST!

At first thanks a lot for your Interest in this Project

And yes, the Mainboard will be upside down and yeees the CPU might be a little Beast

But i did a mistake by saving an update to the Text: A Mod has to approve it and until then, it wont be seen.
Won't happen again.
And Mod: Please approve the Post.

Subbed for when it comes back.

Akvodio said:

But i did a mistake by saving an update to the Text: A Mod has to approve it and until then, it wont be seen.
Won't happen again.
And Mod: Please approve the Post.

Click to expand...

Sorry guys...just got in from work and thought I'd better check on this. Lo and behold

everything's just fine
thanks for approving..

- - - Updated - - -

Update 2:

Moin! (That's what you say in Hamburg for Hello )

We defied the heat and Pokemon Go and went to the workshop .
Surrounded by vents we got started with the next steps in the project!

Next up were Step 3 & 4, dismantle the mainboard and PSU.

The Gigabyte board was very nice in terms of dismantling, but the biggest change to the mainboard will be (attention, some spoiler here ) to anodize the coolers




















The PSU was a mess. Of course we expected nothing less then excellent build quality but it was a never-ending task to dismantle this thing.
Well, it is possible that be quiet! didn't see two guys from Hamburg, Germany coming in to mod and paint their PSU :x

Let us tell you, there were a lot of screws involved... Seriously, a lot of screws.







The cables will be sleeved individually, maybe you can guess what colour we will choose.



The process was almost completed until we needed to solder this last bit. [-o<



Now the mainboard and the PSU are ready to get their new skin.
Stay tuned for the next updates

Timon und Marcel from Akvodio

I'm subbing!

Ich koenne nicht pics sehen

Leegit said:

Ich koenne nicht pics sehen

Click to expand...

He's hosting offsite and you have a firewall is the most likely explanation.

No Offense Intended, If I was going to delidd my CPU I would not under any circumstances remount the lid to the CPU, I would remove the socket clamping assembly make the preparations necessary and bare die mount my water block to it.

One of my good friends has bare die mounted his air cooler to his 4770K and has zero problems with it, so IMO, if you're going to toss the CPUs warranty out the window, Go For It!

Like I said, it's just my opinion.