Build Log: Project HazMat

[snod33]

That looks better, mine was just a suggestion to get the shape of the A's.

 

[laxin213]

Wow nice parts list can't wait to see it come together! How much time do you think it will take you to complete it?

 

[skorpien]

It's taken way too long already, but mostly because I can't seem to find time to work on it I'll be clamping down soon though and plan on having it done in a few months hopefully.

And snodd33, great minds think alike I'm probably going with the yin-yang design. I've rotated it 45 degrees and I'm really liking how it looks now. Now to figure out if I should have it etched locally or order a spare panel from MM with the etching done by them.

 

[skorpien]

Another update. From now on I think I'll just be updating whenever. I apologize to anyone following this thread but finding time to build is seeming to be harder than I'd anticipated.

Here is the front so far. Took a lot of trial and error, but I think I finally made the radiator work. I'd wanted to use them in a push configuration but unfortunately the screws were too short. Hopefully the fan grills don't look too silly on the front with a radiator immediately behind them.


Side shot showing the HDD "cage" that came with the case. Just attaches to the fan and the fan to the chassis. Hope it holds...


And finally, the back.


I ran into a bit of an issue while trying to sleeve the USB cable from the fan controller. I ended up ripping off one of the connectors and I'm going to have to purchase and crimp a new one on. Does anybody know of any Canadian retailer (online or otherwise) that sells USB crimp connectors? I sourced some from Performance-PCs, but I'd rather not pay as much for shipping as for the connectors and then having to wait for shipping on top of it...

 

[Ironsmack]

Have you tried Dazmode.com?

 

[skorpien]

Yeah, I tried looking there, but unfortunately they don't have them. Honestly, I can't seem to find them anywhere other than PPCs... Am I just not searching properly?

 

[Bobnova]

This is off to a wonderful start, I look forward to seeing more!

Are you planning on having some UV LEDs or other such lighting?

 

[skorpien]

Thanks! I look forward to seeing more as well haha, time permitting.

I've already got the cold cathode UV tubes and orange EL wire waiting to go in. Still undecided on whether to include orange LED lighting.

I have an etched panel that I'm going to try lighting with the EL wire, but I'm still not sure how I'll pull it off. The panel bolts on to the outside of the chassis frame, so running edge lighting on the bottom will require it to be outside of the case...

 

[skorpien]

Just a little teaser. Cold cathode test and bracket mounting I used Weld-On to fuse the acrylic brackets to the side panel. There seem to be some air bubbles though so I hope the bond is strong enough to hold the reservoirs with water. Is there any way to get the bubbles out? I applied more Weld-On to them but that doesn't seem to get rid of them...

 

[skorpien]

Once again, sorry for the lack of updates. I've decided I'm going to repaint the fans as the paint is chipping off with the slightest touch. I've also ran out of sleeving for my PSU cables, so I've had to order a bunch in. The build isn't scratched, it's just taking a lot longer than I thought. Again, my apologies.

I do have a question for the community though. I will be using nickel plated blocks in my build from various manufacturers (EK FC GPU block and possibly MIPS if I choose to WC the motherboard) and I'm starting to worry about the nickel plating flaking off in my loop. Do I need an anti corrosive addative in my loop? If so, what's the best one that I can just add to my loop after filling or distill and fill? I'd rather not use the premixed coolants. (I tried going with a copper version of the EK block but for some reason it was sold out everywhere.)

Thanks!

 

[Ry_YNWA]

G'day mate. I'm also looking at watercooling my Antec 900 Two v3.

What kind of loop did you finish up with, and how'd you go fitting everything
into the case?

I've got an Asus Maximus V Formula/ThunderFX mobo
Intel Core i7-3770K
EVGA 4G GeForce GTX 670 FTW (might get a second at a later date)
G.Skill Trident-X 16G (2x 8G), looking to u/g to 32G
OCZ Vertex4 256G SSD
Barracuda 3TB HD
LG blu-ray writer

Thanks mate, I appeciate any feedback.

 

[skorpien]

I actually ended up using an entirely different case for water cooling. Went with the Mountain Mods U2 UFO Crystal Ship case, with the option to have two 360mm rads at the front. As was pointed out in the other thread, that case isn't the best for water cooling. You can hang a 360 rad from the back using an external rad mount, and you may be able to fit a 240 rad up front with some modding (don't quote me on that) but you'll lose your hard drive cage at the front. For a CPU, GPU and mobo loop, you'll probably be better served with a different case that's made for water cooling IMO.

As for my loop, I'm doing two separate loops for aesthetic reasons. I recommend going with one though as with most uses, you'll only be stressing either the CPU or the GPU, but usually not both at the same time.

 

[Ry_YNWA]

Fantastic, thanks mate.
I might o the different case then, which does suck a fair bit, as I have the brand new (never used!) Antec case sitting here. :/

I have a bit more of an idea on what I need now, but if you wouldn't mind.. I'd appreciate any info or suggestions that you might have..

So, I'll be looking at cooling the mobo (Thermo Fusion on the Asus Maximus V Formula), CPU, GPU (with possibility of getting a second GPU and SLI in the future). Please excuse for me being naive, but you can cool mosfets (they're different to the CPU??) right? And also, can you cool RAM??

If this was all possible.. what type of loop setup would you recommend? 1 or 2??

If I did two loops...

Loop 1) Res > Pump > Rad > Mofset > CPU > Thermo Fusion > Res
and
Loop 2) Res > Pump > Rad > GPU 1 > GPU 2 > RAM (if you can??) > Res

Again, I do apologise my lack of knowledge, just need to know what can be cooled and the best way to go about it.. reading the Sticky as we type!!

Thanks.

-Ry.

 

[skorpien]

Glad to see you're reading up. There is plenty of great information to be learned from the stickies.

One thing you'll notice is that it isn't really necessary to cool MOSFETs or RAM on modern motherboards. If anything it's only done for aesthetics. It just introduces restriction into the loop with very little gain in temps.

That said, you would need RAM waterblocks to cool the RAM. And correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the Thermo Fusion thing on your board basically a combination heat sink and waterblock for your MOSFETs? If so you don't need additional blocks for your motherboard. You would just connect your loop to the heat sink's inlet and outlet. Other boards would require special blocks for MOSFETs that would need to be specifically compatible with that board. There are no universal MOSFET blocks as far as I know.

Your loop would depend entirely on how you'll be using your computer. It's not absolutely necessary to have things separated and in most circumstances a single loop would be better if you're not stressing both CPU and GPU simultaneously.

I recommend reading up on the deltaT guide. That will tell you how to calculate the total watts your loop will need to dissipate and how much radiator surface area you'll need to achieve that. Once you know that, you can then choose a chassis that can fit all of your radiators and that should hopefully make your build that much easier.

Lastly, loop order doesn't matter much other than res before pump to keep the pump primed. Once your loop reaches equilibrium, temps shouldn't fluctuate more than a couple of degrees anywhere in your loop. Just make sure res is before pump and try to go for the cleanest, shortest tubing runs.

Apologies if that wasn't quite the answer you were hoping for, but really you're the one that will know how best to build your loop. We can offer advice, but ultimately it will be you that's putting it all together.

 

[Ry_YNWA]

Mate, you're brilliant! Cheers for the advice!

So, I've worked out (quite quickly) that I need a bigger case either way.
My problem, is that I'm very much indecisive! :/

Upgrading to the Antec Twelve Hundred V3 would be the more obvious choice from the
Nine Hundred V3, but am also intrigued by the Cooler Master HAF-X and the ooler Master Storm Stryker.. any thoughts on those cases?


Thanks again!

Ry.

 

[skorpien]

While the Twelve Hundred V3 would be an improvement over the Nine Hundred, I think you'll still be fiddling with things to get them to work. Unless they've changed things since the V2, the only concession Antec really made for watercooling those cases are the grommets out back for routing your hose.

You can take a look at the builds thread here, or search around Google for WC builds using the Twelve Hundred.

The HAF-X and Storm Stryker would probably afford more felxibility in terms of watercooling, and the HAF-X was a very popular case back in its hay days. Again, searching for builds with those two cases would probably give you a better idea of what can be done with them and what can't.

Have you given thought to the NZXT Switch 810 chassis? It's about the same price as those two you listed but it was designed from the ground up for watercooling. Comes in white, black, gunmetal and one other colour I believe. Plus a giant side window to show off your loop

Edit: Here's the product page for the Switch 810.

 

[Ry_YNWA]

Thanks mate, I more than appreciate the advice.

I like the case that you listed, the Switch 810, but I've read
a few reviews and apparently it's build qualoty, as far as
its panels and such are concerned, are quite flimsy..

Just in your opinion, how would you rate the 810 against
Corsair's 800D? I also like the Thermaltake Chaser MK-I,
but I think the window lets it down.

Just another question, if you don't mind..

I've just discovered waterfall reservoirs, do they offer the same
performance as ordinary res'?


-Ry.

 

[Conumdrum]

A res is a res. there is no performance from a res.

 

[skorpien]

Conumdrum's right. Reservoirs don't provide a performance gain. Go with what you want, whether it's something fancy like my Liquid Fusion reservoirs (those glowy spiral things in my post) or something basic. It's all personal taste.

Comparing the Switch 810 to the 800D isn't very fair to be honest. The 800D is nearly twice the price of the Switch 810. NZXT probably had to cut some corners in order to keep the price of the Switch 810 more budget friendly, so unfortunately the build quality is going to suffer. I know there are some that have issues with NZXT using so much plastic in that case, but to me it's still a great looking, affordable watercooling case.

Just so you are aware, Corsair has announced the 900D (not yet available though), retailing at about $350 USD. I'm not sure what your budget is, or even if you'll need that much cooling capacity, but in case you haven't heard of it I just wanted to let you know.

An all aluminum case tends to run higher than steel/plastic cases, but you get what you pay for. It's a very subjective topic, really. Your personal prefs, watercooling needs and budget will all play in the case you choose. I don't really feel comfortable giving you a definitive answer.

Also, you may want to consider starting your own thread. Not that I mind helping you, but I did intend this thread to be a build thread (regardless of how few updates it's been getting ). You'll probably get a better range of responses as well from other forum members that might pass up reading your questions in here.

 

[Ry_YNWA]

Hey mate.
All fantastic ideas and thoughts, I appreciate them all.

Yeah, sorry man, didn't mean to 'hijack' your thread, lol!
I shall create my own if another question comes to mind, which I'm sure that it will!



Thanks again all for your help and advice.

-Ry.