[BUILD LOG] Tiny Liquid Thunder: mATX with internal water cooling!

[Neuromancer]

Amazing power in a small form factor. Great job.

Was also going to suggest the external fan for the 120 but it looks like you do not need it!

 

[Horrerblade]

Dang very nice any reason you went with a 680 vs a 7970?

 

[LoneWolf121188]

Thanks! Partly cause I'm partial to nVidia, partly because the 680 seemed to be a touch faster in all the reviews I saw at that point. Also, 680 waterblocks seemed to be easier to find at that point than 7970 blocks.

 

[Horrerblade]

Hahaha okay cool

 

[freakdiablo]

Looking nice. I didn't realize they made 180mm radiators, I've seen 120mm and 240mm, but not 180. Learn something new every day

 

[Horrerblade]

That surface area is out rages lol

 

[LoneWolf121188]

Looking nice. I didn't realize they made 180mm radiators, I've seen 120mm and 240mm, but not 180. Learn something new every day

That surface area is out rages lol

Haha, yeah, it's freakin huge. 180mm rads are a bit tricky to find, Magicool was the only company I could find that made them.

 

[MGF Derp]

Looking good.

 

[Twilight_Poplar]

I had the same problem with bitspower 45 rotaries. One leaked no matter what position it was in and i had to get rid of it. As for the, other I found a position that pleased it..for now. I plan on replacing it next time I clean the loop.

 

[LoneWolf121188]

For those of you that missed it, I de-lidded my 3770K and got a massive drop in temps, but only about 200MHz extra. The thread is here: http://www.overclockers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=722054

Also, I've swapped out my fans for an AP182 in the front and an AP-29 in the back. Much better temps when I crank up the RPM, but it's still nice and quiet otherwise. I also added a water temp probe just prior to the 180mm rad.

 

[LoneWolf121188]

Major update! Upgraded to a 4770K, Maximus VI Gene, and a GTX780! Pics below.

GTX 780! This is the EVGA SC edition.

Naked:

And here's the underside of the cooler, for reference:

All clean!

Took off the CPU waterblock to find this. Gross. I made the mistake of using CL Liquid Ultra...this stuff will NOT come off once solid. This was after several minutes of rubbing with qtips, paper towels, and rubbing alcohol. I think I'm going to have to find an abrasive pad, like a sponge or something, to get this crap off.

Ready to go!

Problem: The new design of the GPU waterblock completely messes up my loop flow. This was my first attempt at a new tubing arrangement...but it was super leaky. The 45 degree rotaries are being torqued just a little and are leaking at the joint again.

Closeup of the problem area:

Final tubing design. Not elegant, but it works! mATX is definitely a challenge for watercooling!

 

[xander89]

nice one mate loving my 780 but wish i could crank up the volts more i am stuck on 1228mhz core but i only hit max of 35-38c while gaming. The highest i have ever hit is 42 while running heaven. lol. Hows your temps?

 

[LoneWolf121188]

nice one mate loving my 780 but wish i could crank up the volts more i am stuck on 1228mhz core but i only hit max of 35-38c while gaming. The highest i have ever hit is 42 while running heaven. lol. Hows your temps?

Yeah, that's almost exactly what I'm seeing too. Shame...this card has so much more potential, it just needs another 0.1-2V...

 

[xander89]

nice and i have 600 worth of rad! It really is a shame. Boooo. I am going to try the bios mod soon see if i can get nearer 1300mhz

 

[Mpegger]

Question: Where exactly are the fittings leaking from? At the joint? The threads?

If at the threads, have you tried wrapping them with a couple of layers of plumbers tape? I've never had a fitting leak at all, in all the time I've been water cooling my PC. Even after redoing the loop a couple of times, and even reusing the same original (old), almost dried out rubber o-rings.

 

[LoneWolf121188]

Question: Where exactly are the fittings leaking from? At the joint? The threads?

It's at the rotary joint. The threads are fine, it's just that the fittings were being torqued a bit, probably causing the O ring in the joint to unseal.