PROJECT LOG U2-UFO/SR-2 Mobo WC Rig

[Stonesthroen]

Hi:

I mentioned i'd be posting some pictures of this project as it progressed when i was asking a few questions i had about water cooling so i figured i would start a Project Log and start posting pictures as the project comes together. If this thread is on the wrong place please feel free to move it to its corresponding place.

I finally got the last package in the mail with the last few remaining items on the list to get this built going. The few spare hours i had this past few days have been spent on sleeving every single cable as my OCD would kill me if i left all those cables laying around in the case.

This is my first computer that i build from scratch so it is very exciting for me to be doing this. Last one i had my friend build with me and all i did was replace GPU, CPU, Ram in it. He did most of the building but i learned a lot from just watching him do it. I also assisted him when he did his water cooling system for his new rig which made me want to do WC for this one which i been planning for a while now. Also this will be my first water cooling rig i have ever put together for a computer of mine. I have done a lot of research for the past few months on what to do and everything i will need to make this project a success but if you guys see anything that looks weird or will make my rig more efficient i welcome all types of feedback.

I will be using this case mostly for 3D modeling and rendering but for some gaming as well. I am thinking about taking a new hobby and start benching as i have seen my friends do it. It seems like fun trying to push your components to perform at its best and now i have a machine that will be able to do this. I am still doing research on this and will most likely will be posting questions in the near future.

I figure i would start with a list of the major components i am using for this build.

Case - U2-UFO Duality
Mobo - EVGA SR-2 with EK-FB SR2 Waterblock
CPU - Intel Xeon E5620 Westmere 2.4GHz x2 with Swiftech APOGEE XT x2
GPU - EVGA GeForce GTX 580 FTW Hydro Copper 2 (Will get 3 more in a few
months to do a 4 way SLI so i planned for GPU loop with these in mind)
RAM - CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (12 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM
PSU - CORSAIR Professional Series AX1200 1200W
RAD - Swiftech Radiator - MCR320 QP Radiator x2 and Swiftech MCR120-QP
Radiator x2
RES - XSPC Dual 5.25" Bay Reservoir for Dual Laing DDC
Pump - Swiftech MCP355 12 VDC Pump x2

I will be using EK compression fittings (3/8 ID 1/2 OD) for this build


So my plan is to have 2 loops. 1 for the Mobo and CPUs and 1 for the GPU (eventually it will be cooling 3 cards so planned for it now so i don't need to break apart as much when i decide to add the other 2 cards) Tonight I will begin setting everything inside the case so i can get a leak test going this weekend and hopefully finish building this beast next week. I have been extremely busy at work so only get a few hours at night to work on this and i don't want to rush it. I will take some good pictures tonight of what i did yesterday and whatever i get done tonight and start posting progress as it moves along.

Any feedback, advice or comments are welcome.

 

[Stonesthroen]

Well i got busy with work and wasn't able to work on it as much as i wanted but here are some pictures of last night progress. I should be able to get the last radiators in and get a leak test going this weekend. I will post more pictures this weekend.\

 

[Lab Rat]

Was looking at this exact case tonight & looks lush, shame about the price pfff.

Subbed

 

[Stonesthroen]

More Pics

Was able to get some more work done on the case last night. All loops to radiators, reservoir and pumps are done. Tomorrow hopefully i can get to working on mother board. Most likely will not get to leak testing the rig until Monday or Tuesday. Will post more pictures as i get more work done on it.

Cant wait to render a project on this machine that took me over 2 days to render on my old Computer.

 

[bigdfootball89]

looks sexy so far, subd

 

[Stonesthroen]

More pcs

So i got a little sick on Monday after a night of celebrating my 33rd birthday (Hangover!!!) so i didn't get much done but i was able to get the blocks and some of the tubing on the mobo yesterday. I should be able to get a leak test going tonight.

 

[Stonesthroen]

More pics and sore fingers

Well having a demanding Girlfriend and a hyper active dog takes away some of the time i wished i could have spent yesterday working on this but i did get a good amount done. Fingers are hurting like crazy making sure all the fittings where finger tight but i think they get to heal now. Will do a leak test tonight when i get home and hopefully everything is good and i can start working on cable management and connecting everything. Should be up and running this weekend.

 

[GIXXERGUY6]

Very nice. Sub'd


Now you need to fill that board with 580's and get those CPU's clocked and stable and then rock out with T32!!!! We would love you have your folding power(if not all the time then during the times we need the extra muscle)

What do you say?

 

[MattNo5ss]

Looking good Stonesthroen! Nice build there!

Very nice. Sub'd


Now you need to fill that board with 580's and get those CPU's clocked and stable and then rock out with T32!!!! We would love you have your folding power(if not all the time then during the times we need the extra muscle)

What do you say?

He just needs to upgrade to hexes and add 6 more GTX580 Hydro Coppers...

 

[Stonesthroen]

Very nice. Sub'd


Now you need to fill that board with 580's and get those CPU's clocked and stable and then rock out with T32!!!! We would love you have your folding power(if not all the time then during the times we need the extra muscle)

What do you say?

I will be getting 3 more 580 in the next few months. Maybe sooner if i get anxious or they drop in price . Yes once i get the computer stabilized i would love to do some folding. I will definitely will be posting questions as i have not overclocked in a while and i am sure that i will hit snags on the way to getting this machine to where i want it to be.

I'll shoot you a PM once i get it stable and running smooth.

 

[GIXXERGUY6]

I will be getting 2 more 580 in the next few months. Maybe sooner if i get anxious or they drop in price . Yes once i get the computer stabilized i would love to do some folding. I will definitely will be posting questions as i have not overclocked in a while and i am sure that i will hit snags on the way to getting this machine to where i want it to be.

I'll shoot you a PM once i get it stable and running smooth.

Sure thing.

 

[JonSimonzi]

Build definitely looks amazing, would love to have a rig like that.

One question I have about your build though. You say you're going to use it for mainly 3D modeling and rendering, and quite a few features of the build support that. 48GB of ram, dual Xeons, etc... At that point, why get a "gaming" graphics card, and not just go all out and get one more suited for that, a Quadro card or something?

 

[Stonesthroen]

Build definitely looks amazing, would love to have a rig like that.

One question I have about your build though. You say you're going to use it for mainly 3D modeling and rendering, and quite a few features of the build support that. 48GB of ram, dual Xeons, etc... At that point, why get a "gaming" graphics card, and not just go all out and get one more suited for that, a Quadro card or something?

I definitely did a lot of research about video cards before making a decision. I do want this to be mainly for 3d modeling and rendering but i am also a gamer so i want something that i could push both ways. So i looked and looked online for an answer. After reading countless forums threads, reviews and god knows what else i came along a thread in EVGA of someone that was having a similar decision to make. He contacted NVIDIA about it and one of the techs told him this.

"When discussing Quadro's vs. multiple GTX in SLI; the GPU's in a 4 way SLi would not be worth the cost in terms of net gain over a dual or tri SLi just for gaming, but when rendering animations or heavy 3D work - where the full compliment of GPU's would be accessed - they would man up and be more fully utilized. For the dollars, someone building a dual purpose machine would probably be best served sticking with the GeForce series and just adding cards until a Tesla card made better sense."

That is why i went the GTX580 route as i will eventually have a 4 way SLI on this RIG most likely by the end of the year and it is still cheaper than the Quadro that i was looking at. In the end i believe that this will suffice my rendering needs as well as my gaming needs for now until i get my tax return and get the remaining cards. Not saying i made the right choice but that was my reasoning behind it I will have to see once i get up and running if it will work or not.

I also wanted to add with what i have been doing with 3d modeling and rendering i haven't gotten past 1GB of GPU rendering so i think i should be ok for the next few years with these cards. If i ever start throwing 12-15 million polygons, with tetxture maps, etc on a scene then i will need to definetly start looking into a Tesla card (4K). But for now i think ill be ok

 

[JonSimonzi]

I definitely did a lot of research about video cards before making a decision. I do want this to be mainly for 3d modeling and rendering but i am also a gamer so i want something that i could push both ways. So i looked and looked online for an answer. After reading countless forums threads, reviews and god knows what else i came along a thread in EVGA of someone that was having a similar decision to make. He contacted NVIDIA about it and one of the techs told him this.

"When discussing Quadro's vs. multiple GTX in SLI; the GPU's in a 4 way SLi would not be worth the cost in terms of net gain over a dual or tri SLi just for gaming, but when rendering animations or heavy 3D work - where the full compliment of GPU's would be accessed - they would man up and be more fully utilized. For the dollars, someone building a dual purpose machine would probably be best served sticking with the GeForce series and just adding cards until a Tesla card made better sense."

That is why i went the GTX580 route as i will eventually have a 4 way SLI on this RIG most likely by the end of the year and it is still cheaper than the Quadro that i was looking at. In the end i believe that this will suffice my rendering needs as well as my gaming needs for now until i get my tax return and get the remaining cards. Not saying i made the right choice but that was my reasoning behind it I will have to see once i get up and running if it will work or not

Makes perfect sense

I'm sure you'll be more than happy with what GTX580 SLI in any configuration can do. You just don't seem too afraid to throw money into the rig, was just wondering how you came to the video card conclusion you did. Just my own curiosity, I've never really looked into Quadro cards, just have basic knowledge that GeForce = Gaming, Quadro = 3D modeling.

 

[Stonesthroen]

Leak testing

Well did the bleeding and leak testing last night and hit a snag. It looks like the compression fittings on the radiator seem to be leaking just a tiny bit. I had no more room to turn the fitting in the radiator so i think maybe the 0-ring is defective or i might need to get some thread sealing tape from home depot before i get home. That will hopefully take care of it. I drained it this morning but on a good note nothing else seems to be leaking in any way so if everything goes smooth i should still be up and running this weekend at some point.

 

[Stonesthroen]

running for 2 hours and no leaks so far so good!

Well refilled, bled and no leaks for 2 hours now. Going to leave it running overnight to see if any leaks come up. Tomorrow i will finish it and start working on getting it running. Will post some pictures once it is all finished.

 

[Stonesthroen]

Well Monday was not an awesome day for me. When i got motherboard i put one of the CPU and posted to make sure motherboard was working. Not quite. It boot up to bios and everything so thought i had a working mobo. Well i started getting everything up and running and CPU1 wouldn't post. I thought i had a faulty CPU so i went ahead and switched them to realize that i had a faulty mobo. After many hours on the phone with EVGA trying to troubleshoot the fact that the other CPU wasn't posting it was determined that i had a faulty motherboard. That being said i drained the loops and i am working on taking everything out of the motherboard so i can return it. Gotta love the RMA period time as i am getting a full refund from tigerdirect.com since they dont have the mobo at the moment and already put an order with EVGA so i should have the new mobo tomorrow. I should be up and running again by the end of the week hopefully. Next time ill make sure i try both before continuing with a project of this magnitude. Yes i know noob mistake!!!! Besides that the rig ran awesome with one of the processors just need to make sure the new one they send me posts to both cpu's before i put it together again. I'll post pics as soon as i am up and running with the new mobo!!!!

 

[Stonesthroen]

New mobo arrived yesterday!!

Got new motherboard yesterday. Did open it and just posted with it real quick this time to make sure that it posted with both Cpu's and it did. Have a commitment with the woman today (Going to the Opera for one of her classes but i really wanted to just finish my build) so most likely will not set this up until tomorrow after work. Will definetly will be running by tomorrow night and tweaking it through the weekend so i can get it going for next week. Will post pics as soon as it is done!!

 

[Lab Rat]

You finished it yet or what?

 

[Stonesthroen]

You finished it yet or what?

Yup I am doing a leak test this morning so I can close the case in a few hours. Will post pics shortly after I finish