Corsair H005

[wlucas]

I just added a Corsair H105 liquid cooler to my system replacing a Phanteks PH-TC14PE air cooler. Installing this cooler in a vintage Alienware Aurora case (2006) was problematic but I was able to do so by installing the radiator vertically instead of what i would suppose is recommended, horizontally. I don't think that mounting the radiator vertically affects its performance as it is keeping the CPU at 28c and has not broke 42c under full load. The Phanteks incidentally performed equally with the new liquid cooler. My only complaint with Corsair concerning the installation of their HOO5 is that their documentation is really brief. For instance, they never mentioned if the radiator could be mounted vertically. Additionally, the instructions dictate that the power to the pump be connected to a fan connection on the mother board but does not indicate what settings (for mother boards that you can adjust the fan speeds through the bios) to use. I have a Sabertooth mb and set my fan speed to turbo mode, which leaves the question of whether or not Corsair recommends full voltage to the pump at all times? Since the cooler has a 5 year warranty, I have chosen to run the pump at full power at all times, but does that help our hurt its cooling performance? I would appreciate any input from anyone else who has installed this system. Specifically, I would like to hear temperature readings from others with full ATX cases with similar CPUS.



INTEL I7-4930K CPU, Alienware Aurora Case, Corsair Vengeance 48GB 2133mhz PC3-17000, ASUS SABERTOOTH INTEL X79 SOCKET MB, Intel high speed 600gb SSD, 2 WD 1TB 7400rpm Hard Drives Raid0, THERMALTAKE TOUGHPOWER 850W DIGITAL PSU, Corsair H105 Cooling,

 

[GTXJackBauer]

I believe you're cooler is actually a Corsair H105.

Also, reason why they don't recommend the positioning of the rad the way you have displayed is because in case they don't have all the bubbles bled from a sealed loop since it would end up circulating to the pump which isn't the best idea for sound and its longevity.

Overall it looks nice. Not the best cases for air flow but it will do.

Wow 48GB of ram. If you don't mind me asking what do you need that much ram for? What kind of GPU are you using?

 

[wlucas]

Thank you for the information Mr. Bauer. I agree with you that mounting it vertically was not as preferable as mounting in horizontally. The problem with this case is that is was manufactured prior to water cooling becoming popular. The case is very large but in reality, it was poorly designed with a lot of space that is not usable. The challenge with mounting the radiator flat in front of the mb (the only other place it could go) is that it would have to be raised to clear the fan controller and contacts for the side panel which would require my fabricating some brackets to raise it about an inch. To be quite frank with you, this is my tenth build and it was not a planned build.

I was surfing Craigslist about two weeks ago and found an ad for a 2006 Alienware Aurora 7500 R4 that a guy was asking $300.00 for. I half heartedly offered him $200.00 for it (did not really care if I got it or not) and he accepted the offer. When I got it home, the case was scratched and marred up consistent with a case that had not been taken very good care of. Opening it up, I discovered that it had never been cleaned out inside. The dust was so thick it was actually caked on in spots and I found a couple spider webs inside of it. So I cleaned it all out and then took some automotive finish compound and polish to the case. About five hours later, the case looked like brand new again.

When I tried to boot the system, I discovered that the hard drive was wasted so I purchased two WD 1tb drives for it, installed Vista to it and got it running. The video card would not drive my monitor, (Nvidia 8800) so I went to Best Buy and purchased a EVGA 760 GTX for it and I was pretty much done with it. Having a fondness for older Alienware desktops, my main goal of just having it around for a conversation piece was satisfied. Surfing the internet again, I found an article about a guy upgrading the same model machine and thought it would be interesting to see what I could come up with. I ordered a new Asus Sabertooth X79 MB, a Intel I7 4930K CPU, 16gb of Corsair Vengeance 2133Mhz ram, a Thermaltake 850w ps, another EVGA 760GTX gpu, and a Phanteks air cooler for it from New Egg. Everything fit pretty nicely but cable management was a bit....

I had a brand new 600gb Intel high speed SSD sitting around that I had planned to put in a Samsung laptop prior to my buying a very high dollar Macbook Pro and basically getting away from PC's for my home computing. Any how, I decided to add it since it was 6gb SATA capable and loaded it with a retail version of Windows 8.1 that I was going to use to do a clean install on the Samsung that never got used. Though I am still waiting on the second EVGA 760 to arrive (next week), I was very happy with the results I got for basically a $1600.00 investment. I mean the machine looks really cool and runs above average for a middle of road gaming computer. Anyhow, surfing CL again, I ran across a listing for the Corsair H105, new in the box for $115.00, talked the guy down to $85.00 and bought it. Reading up some more, I disscovered that the MB would take 64gb of RAM (8 slots 8gb each) so I went looking for 48gb's of RAM just to see how a system would perform with that much RAM installed. I found a great deal on Amazon for 32gb's of the same RAM for $379.00 and decided that 48gb would be more than i could ever use. It will be arriving this coming week. (Monday) So now, with everything installed I got about $2,800 of components in a cheap but kick azz looking case and a computer that will be sitting around here collecting dust because I am completely converted to MAC's now. (By the way, I do not use computers for gaming).

My original idea of just having it here as a conversation piece, call it art if you like, has turned in to a middle of the road build and frankly I don't know what got in to me. My previous build in 2009 started out with a need for a media server and a budget of about $3,000 to build it. When I got done, I spent almost $9,000.00 building a gaming computer that basically never seen more use than surfing the internet and for sending receiving email. (It was definitely one high end system though...lol). I guess you can just call me compulsive because when I get started on something I don't like to quit until I have the best that can be obtained. Before this project is all over, I will buy a real case, a better processor and MB, and put two or three Titan GPU;s in to it, leaving the Alienware on a shelf just to say I have one....lmao. This is first system I ever water cooled, so I gave these folks their premium membership fee and I am hoping that I could learn some things from this forum that will help me to learn more about building high end systems.

I am really impressed with a lot of the members here knowledge of getting the most out of their systems and I believe that you never stop learning, so hopefully building this new system and learning from some people with more experience than me, this new system will be a piece of art in it own rights. Again, thank you for your response and input.

 

[GTXJackBauer]

I don't know where to start. Its very obvious you have a impulse buying and efficiency issue when it comes to building a PC and it seems you have a pretty wide open wallet. I am all for people going all out on rigs but I will intervene if I feel they are ripping themselves off or not building a balanced system.

Don't mind me but I have to point out to you so maybe you can learn from this next time. The case you bought I believe you got ripped off on and the guy is laughing on the way to the bank. For that amount of money you could have bought a VERY nice case with the "blink" and custom water cooling ready.

The ram, I am not sure why you need that much but in today's standards at MOST are in the range of 12GB-16GB. I have 12GB and only use 8GB max. Those who need more are server, graphic and computing guys.

Titans are for computing and the like. You bought a high end CPU with a low end gaming GPU. The high end as it stands are the GTX 780 Ti's but if you only surf the net, don't know why you'd want to buy something high end as its a waste of money.

If you were efficient you could have bought things you don't have and really had the "wow" factor. You need to do more research in advance if you have the patience and look around at other beauties of art. It takes time but you have to give in to get. Going on a spending spree ain't going to give you the wow factor other than telling folks how much it cost. I could build something for a few thousand and make it look better than say some that cost over $5k. I am all about the art and understand to each their own as its your money and you can spend it the way you'd like too but honestly I personally would have assisted you in other ways of building your rig.

I'd say move on and learn from the past.

At the end of the day, if you're happy with it that's all that matters as they say.

I almost forgot, welcome to OCFs!

 

[RnRollie]

wow, wall of text , i'll try to reread it after my 2nd coffee

One thing however... AIO's are not filled to the brim and always have some air in them (and even more over time) (*).

Mounting the rad like that, with ports/fittings at the top will ensure that any air in the system will rise to the top and then gets sucked into the block/pump. Where it will have difficulties escaping and eventualy form a "big" airbubble / airlock.

The pump is not designed to run dry and will let its displeasure known by emitting a grinding noise. Ignore that long enough and it dies.

A dead pump can result in a dead CPU.

I strongly suggest mounting the rad differently. And not flat on the floor either.




(*)NOTE: For those who want to argue about any/lots of air in the AIO, think first WHY this might be the case

 

[wlucas]

Mr. Bauer, I sincerely appreciate your opinion and you are in fact correct on many points you conveyed to me. However, I think you missed the point of why I bought the Alienware. I do not agree with you whatsoever about getting ripped off on the Alienware, as I sold the obsolete components from it for $160.00. When all was said and done, I obtained a very unique and attractive case that is very hard to come by at a cost to me of $40.00. In addition, the same person I bought the Alienware from sold me a CM Cosmos 2, brand new in the box, for $65.00 simply because he had it sitting in his storage for 3 years and because I gave him a pretty penny for the Alienware. Furthermore, I have a NZXT Phatom 820 window edition sitting new in a box in my closet that I could of used. As I previously stated, when I started this project I had no intention of building another PC.

Prior to Dell buying Alienware, I had always liked the looks of the Alienware towers and when I ran across one of CL, I bought it just for nostalgia sake. As for the amount of RAM I purchased, it is more of an experiment than an actual need. I am very interested in seeing how that much RAM will affect my 3D rendering with Autocad 2014 and how it will perform with my ProEngineer and Solid Works programs. As for the Titans, I have a friend who bought four of them three months ago, he's needing some money, and I can pick three of them up from him for $450.00. I do not need that much video, but since the 760's I bought can still be returned to where I purchased them, why not buy the high end ones and use them, considering their cost will be less than what the two 760's would end up costing me if I keep them? Yes, I could definitely benefit from the wisdom and experience of people like yourself and yes, I am a compulsive buyer and have the financial resources to pretty much do what ever I want in life. I did not inherit the vast financial resources I have. I have studied and worked very hard in my life to be in the financial shape I am in. I am retired now and do not wish to have my children and relatives fighting over my estate when I pass on, so I have no problem now enjoying the fruits of my years of labor.

In all due respect, I like being compulsive. I have a real passion for electronics, exotic automobiles and computers. In my opinion, buying and using different products, gives me a better and broader understanding of how different products perform than trying to sift through all the internet hype in considering new technologies. As for my CPU, it is a middle of the road CPU. The new Devils gate extreme edition can be had now and I definitely want to find out how it performs. As for my MB, its a a very good MB, but I prefer EVGA boards. Since I have never owned a Sabertooth before, I decided to give ASUS another try. Again, I appreciate your comments and input. I hope your not offended by my further elaborating on the subjects we have been talking about.

 

[wlucas]

Mr. RnRollie, how and where would you mount it?

 

[RnRollie]

I recognise there is very little room, but you have to flip it around so the ports/fittings are at the bottom... this will result in awkward routing for the hoses to get past the GPU and hoping they are long enough to set it up that way.

You can gain 30mm of length by putting the fans on the other side of the rad, in a "push" setup and -if needed- maybe raise it off the floor (of the case) a bit by using some (kitchen sponge) foam as extra support...
i'm not quite sure how you've managed to put it and keep it in place where it is now.. doublesided tape, straps, a prayer?

 

[EarthDog]

Holy wall of text! Paragraphs needed! Lol!

Flip that rad around my overkill purchasing friend!

 

[GTXJackBauer]

Mr. Bauer, I sincerely appreciate your opinion and you are in fact correct on many points you conveyed to me. However, I think you missed the point of why I bought the Alienware. I do not agree with you whatsoever about getting ripped off on the Alienware, as I sold the obsolete components from it for $160.00. When all was said and done, I obtained a very unique and attractive case that is very hard to come by at a cost to me of $40.00. In addition, the same person I bought the Alienware from sold me a CM Cosmos 2, brand new in the box, for $65.00 simply because he had it sitting in his storage for 3 years and because I gave him a pretty penny for the Alienware. Furthermore, I have a NZXT Phatom 630 window edition sitting new in a box in my closet that I could of used. As I previously stated, when I started this project I had no intention of building another PC. Prior to Dell buying Alienware, I had always liked the looks of the Alienware towers and when I ran across one of CL, I bought it just for nostalgia sake. As for the amount of RAM I purchased, it is more of an experiment than an actual need. I am very interested in seeing how that much RAM will affect my 3D rendering with Autocad 2014 and how it will perform with my ProEngineer and Solid Works programs. As for the Titans, I have a friend who bought four of them three months ago, he's needing some money, and I can pick three of them up from him for $450.00. I do not need that much video, but since the 760's I bought can still be returned to where I purchased them, why not buy the high end ones and use them, considering their cost will be less than what the two 760's would end up costing me if I keep them? Yes, I could definitely benefit from the wisdom and experience of people like yourself and yes, I am a compulsive buyer and have the financial resources to pretty much do what ever I want in life. I did not inherit the vast financial resources I have. I have studied and worked very hard in my life to be in the financial shape I am in. I am retired now and do not wish to have my children and relatives fighting over my estate when I pass on, so I have no problem now enjoying the fruits of my years of labor. In all due respect, I like being compulsive. I have a real passion for electronics, exotic automobiles and computers. In my opinion, buying and using different products, gives me a better and broader understanding of how different products perform than trying to sift through all the internet hype in considering new technologies. As for my CPU, it is a middle of the road CPU. The new Devils gate extreme edition can be had now and I definitely want to find out how it performs. As for my MB, its a a very good MB, but I prefer EVGA boards. Since I have never owned a Sabertooth before, I decided to give ASUS another try. Again, I appreciate your comments and input. I hope your not offended by my further elaborating on the subjects we have been talking about.

Not offended at all and thank you for your response. I am understanding more and more of your story. It just wasn't as in depth as your recent response.

I am surprised you got $160 worth for 2006 components from that Alienware. It looks like you did well on the purchase because I wouldn't spend no more than $50 max for that case just for the external look if I was a case collector. It looks like the person who purchased your obsolete components is the ripped off one. lol Could have easily ebayed the parts and paid much less.

If I could get 3 Titans for a total of $450, if I understand this correctly, I'd be all over them so fast your friend wouldn't know who bought them. It makes more sense now why you went with your setup but the GPU choice doesn't make sense. Surprised with the open budget you didn't get a Nvidia Quadro and the likes. I guess the Titans would be the right choice for you if you game and render/compute as well.

Well just remember you'll need a nice quality PSU if you get those 3 Titans with the system you have. (Seasonic or Corsair @ 1200w or 1500w) I'd also advise in looking for a more qualified case to house them in. (Corsair, Caselabs, Mountainmods) That should open up the wallets and get your impulse back quite substantially. I know thank me later as I am not helping with the situation.

 

[wlucas]

"I'm not quite sure how you've managed to put it and keep it in place where it is now.. doublesided tape, straps, a prayer?" Tie straps.

 

[Bobnova]

I love tie straps.

Not sure why this thread is marked Featured.

If the pump isn't making random strange noises and is keeping things cool, that orientation should be fine.
Like the others said though, you want the bubble in that loop (there is one, there has to be, there's no room for heat expansion) to stay in the radiator, ideally in the header tank that doesn't have plumbing to it or the input side of the plumbing header tank.

 

[Spawn-Inc]

Wow, 3 titans for $450? He'll I'd pay $450 for each one!

I always did love that Alienware case. It's funny to look back on a screen shot I made when first getting into computers how much they wanted for what was inside.

 

[wlucas]

This is what I ended up with when I turned it over and moved the fans.



I was able to get screws in to it this way, so I guess it wasn't a bad idea.

Wow, 3 titans for $450? He'll I'd pay $450 for each one!

I always did love that Alienware case. It's funny to look back on a screen shot I made when first getting into computers how much they wanted for what was inside.

I hear you. The original configuration in this one was sold for $4,399.00

I love tie straps.

Not sure why this thread is marked Featured.

If the pump isn't making random strange noises and is keeping things cool, that orientation should be fine.
Like the others said though, you want the bubble in that loop (there is one, there has to be, there's no room for heat expansion) to stay in the radiator, ideally in the header tank that doesn't have plumbing to it or the input side of the plumbing header tank.

 

[GTXJackBauer]

This is what I ended up with when I turned it over and moved the fans.

View attachment 146208

I was able to get screws in to it this way, so I guess it wasn't a bad idea.

Much better.

 

[trents]

wlucas, tell us about your case ventilation and fans. With the radiator where it is you are venting the exhausted warmed air into the case rather than directly to the outside. I would think it would be a good idea to be moving a lot of air in and then out of the case.

Is that open mesh on the side of the case between the horizontal silver bars? Can't tell from the picture.

Is this an overclocked system?

 

[wlucas]

Air flow

wlucas, tell us about your ase ventilation and fans. With the radiator where it is you are venting the exhausted warmed air into the case rather than directly to the outside. I would think it would be a good idea to be moving a lot of air in and then out of the case.

Is that open mesh on the side of the case between the horizontal silver bars? Can't tell from the picture.

Is this an overclocked system?

Mr. Trents, please let me start by telling you that this is a 2006 case which originally housed an air cooled system. In 2006, case and component manufactures did not focus on designing cases or components ideal for installing liquid cooling systems. Though this particular Alienware case was one of the first to really go after using lighting and cool looking case designs to market the Aurora line of computers, the case is nevertheless definitely cheaply built by today's standards. The challenges of making this case work for an over clocked and modern system, was one of the main reasons I chose to undertake this build. (Also, I am really fond of the original Alienware computers).

As you can see in the pictures, the only place to put the Corsair radiator, short of attaching it to the outside of the case, was where I ended up mounting it. The case originally came with four fans. One in the front, one in the side panel door (component access) one in the back and a really small and loud one in the panel hiding the cables that points right at the other side of the hard drive cage. The mesh you asked about is in fact mesh and the way the fans are designed, the front fan pulls air through both sides of the the case through the mesh. The warm air is then discharged through the back fan and the component access door. To help get the radiator heat out, I installed a very high output fan up front (140mm) that you can't see or hear but really helps to draw air in to the case through the mesh.

Finally, my choice of a 4930k CPU, was the right choice for this build. These new Ivy Bridge processors are not really over clocking friendly simply because they can't take the heat like the previous Sandy Bridge processors, consider the 4770K for instance. No one in their right mind would ever want to take a 4930k past 80c. Even the new 4790X will not tolerate more than a 100c for very long. So heat is really not a big issue. I chose to use liquid cooling simply because the Phantax air cooler I bought was so tall that it prevented me from adding the additional 48gb's of ram (the only reason to even buy a LGA 2011 mb today) and forced me to remove the fan on the component access door, which with this case design is not an option. The fan on the access door is absolutely critical for helping to remove the heat from this case.

My over clock is at 4.6Mhz using 1.325v core and 1.2v uncore settings. I did not want to get above 1.4v on the core voltage because of heat issues, or i could of dragged another 200Mhz out of the processor, still keeping it within the 80c cap the processor is capable of running at. At 4.6, under full load, the processor averages about 65c. During my stability testing which lasted over 10 hours, under full load the case temperature never got about 58c which is acceptable with the two GTX 760 gpu's now installed in the case. I have three 12gb Titans to install this week that may create whole new cooling challenges, but I will cross that bridge when and if it presents itself. In the end, when all is said and done, it is my intention to take this old Alienware Case and make it in to a massive powerhouse in disguise of an old vintage Alienware Aurora 7500R. So far, I think I am accomplishing that.

 

[EarthDog]

The walls of text are so hard to read... paragraphs friend....

That case gets hardly no airflow... I know you 'like' it, but I am not sure it is a good choice for your needs. generally, for case airflow, you want front/sides = intake and top/rear = exhaust for proper air flow.

 

[wlucas]

The walls of text are so hard to read... paragraphs friend....

That case gets hardly no airflow... I know you 'like' it, but I am not sure it is a good choice for your needs. generally, for case airflow, you want front/sides = intake and top/rear = exhaust for proper air flow.

Your absolutely right. This is a horribly designed case for the components I am installing in it. It would not of been my choice for a build of this type. I am starting another build this week, to play with these new Ivy Bridges a little more. My new build will be using a NZXT Phantom 820 case.

Back to the subject at hand. I only took this build on to see if I could take an obsolete Alienware and turn it in to a functional powerhouse. The whole challenge of this build is to get past the challenges we have discussed while keeping the case as original as possible. I donate my builds to under privileged children and I can already imagine the smile on the childs face that ends up with this vintage Alienware with quite a surprise under the hood.

 

[EarthDog]

What, an overheating computer?

Being more serious, that is great you are doing that for the kids, but the aim, IMO should be its long term functionality. IMO you are cramming too much stuff in there to have it be a reliable system...