Fast New Build - HardLine Water Cooling

BUILD UPDATE:

Here is another update on the build.

I drilled the mounting holes for the res and the pump and those are now attached.


Next I installed the storage media. I put the two 6Tb WD Black HDD's in the top two HDD trays since the way the air flows through that area it has a higher air-speed then the lower 2 trays. I then mounted the Intel PCIe NVMe 1.2Tb SSD to the MoBo along with the Samsung 1Tb SSD to the back of the case.


After this I decided to test all the fans in the system, mainly to see how loud they were. I hooked a 12v LiPo battery to the fans to power them up. They are actually pretty quiet and I'm sure once I get the sides of the case on it will be even better. I REALLY like the white ring lights too. I think it's going to make the system look very nice once it's all put together and filled with the pastel white coolant.


I originally was just going to use the power cables that came with the Corsair PSU but after making everything else look so nice I wanted to change them. I bought 250mm red individually sleeved power extensions and attached those. I need to organize the individual wires a bit better but will do that before I finish the build. Side note, where is the best place to order cable combs?


Next I started plugging in the wires for the case buttons and USB ports. Everything went smoothly till I had to plug in the USB 3 plug into a, in my opinion, not ideal location on the MoBo. The cable was hitting the back of the GPU so I ended up having to cut part of the cable to make it fit.


Tonight I hope to get the fans all plugged in, the main power cables from the PSU to the extensions attached and maybe start on the piping (which I am nervous about since I haven't done hard-line before. I bought a decent amount of extra piping to practice with). Oh and I also picked up a Samsung 950 Pro M.2 SSD that I will also be adding to the system. Might as well have 1 of every type of storage media possible right?

Josh

Looking great so far!!

I am confused on the airflow... it looks like you have the bottom two fans as intake, and the front and top as exhaust? I would have the front/sides/bottom as intake and the top/rear as exhaust...

This case only has 2 intake fans which are the bottom. The two up front actually blow air through a channel to the top of the case and allow then to blow air over the hard drives. The exhaust is on the back through the radiator. This case would not be the greatest for an air-cooled system but for my liquid cooled system it will work out nicely.

Josh

http://www.inwin-style.com/en/goods.php?act=view&id=909

I'm confused by their website. I see what you are saying, but at the bottom there it shows airflow going from front to back. I'd flip them around personally... that will give you better airFLOW, and where you actually need it. As it is, you have 2+ fans cooling HDDs...

Very nice build so far , I cant believe you had the balls to run that cpu with no hsf .
Thats some serious HDD space you have there . 2+ tb of soild state =)

Congrats on the little one from a father of 2 .

Well the intel thermal protection should kick in long before any damage is done, still not something I would do especially with a $1500 cpu

EarthDog said:

http://www.inwin-style.com/en/goods.php?act=view&id=909

I'm confused by their website. I see what you are saying, but at the bottom there it shows airflow going from front to back. I'd flip them around personally... that will give you better airFLOW, and where you actually need it. As it is, you have 2+ fans cooling HDDs...

Click to expand...

Here are images looking at the airflow duct of the front 2 fans. As you can see it's just a solid piece of aluminum. There isn't anywhere for air to get pulled from if I switch them around... The front of the case is a solid piece of aluminum as well without any airflow.


This image is looking down the top of the duct. The hard-drive trays are just barely visible in the left of the image.


Josh

- - - Updated - - -

Joe88 said:

Well the intel thermal protection should kick in long before any damage is done, still not something I would do especially with a $1500 cpu

Click to expand...

Yes... it probably wasn't the smartest thing I've ever done but I have faith in the TP. I won't be doing it again however.

Josh

Another update.

The wiring is DONE! Man that is a PAIN to do! I wanted it to look pretty nice since there is a window on the back. Also because of the window there isn't any flex to kind of "squish" the cables in there so everything had to be flush as possible to the case. It took a few tries and some energy drinks but I got it done and am pretty happy with it. Now I just need to get some cable combs (a buddy of mine is going to laser cut a set for me) and the cabling will be 100%.



I also was able to get the M.2 SSD installed.


Tomorrow I will start the piping... right after I pull the radiator, reservoir, and CPU block out so I can flush them... forgot to do that before I installed them... Did I mention it's been a while since I've done a custom loop? UGH!

Josh

Started to cooling loop process today! Just flushed all the components and will now begin the cutting/bending of the tubes... this will be interesting...

Josh

Good luck!!!

Another Update!

I finished the hardline... man that was a JOB! I am really glad I bought extra tubing because I used 7 500mm tubes. Overall I am happy with how it turned out. There are a few flaws and some tubes aren't perfect BUT for a first time hard-liner I am happy with it. A buddy came over last night and started (and finished) his build while I was working on the piping for mine. Overall it took almost 10 hrs to do the piping.

QUESTION
I do have a question about how to bleed the system. The pump is a PWM style pump and with the PWM cable unplugged from the MoBo (since I am only wanting to power the pump and not the system) the pump is only running at 10-15% power and it's not strong enough to bleed the entire system. I can't find a PWM style fan controller locally but wanted to know if any of you have any additional tricks I can try? I really don't want to have to order one and wait all weekend... I did let water sit in the loop overnight and there are no leaks so I am feeling pretty comfortable that it's sound BUT I do want to see what it will do when more pressure is added.

And now some pictures:


Josh

Those links are broke...

Dlaw said:

Those links are broke...

Click to expand...

+1. Please attach as you have been doing earlier so we can easily see the pics.

Something like this would work and then just jump your PSU ( with it disconnected from the rest of your rig )
http://www.amazon.ca/HDE-4-Pin-Molex-Replacement-Computer/dp/B0081K3ZS0

Bump... Pics are fixed.

Ok I'm having a hard time filling and bleeding this system... I ended up getting my current system and plugged the pump's power and PWM into that motherboard and that is now controlling the pump. It's still however not pushing anything through because there is a bubble in the pump and a few other places in the loop that I can't seem to get out. I tried draining the loop and re-filling but that has just made it worse. I'm wondering how bad I piped it... any input? Thanks.

Josh

Res needs to feed the pump first. Nothing in between those.

Mr.Scott said:

Res needs to feed the pump first. Nothing in between those.

Click to expand...

Thats what I was thinking... I read in a few places that it didn't matter the overall order of things but I am not believing that now... Thanks.

JLambeth87 said:

Thats what I was thinking... I read in a few places that it didn't matter the overall order of things but I am not believing that now... Thanks.

Click to expand...

Order doesn't matter, except the res needs to feed the pump. That's really the only rule.

Yep, res isn't feeding the pump, there's your issue.

Hope you have more tubing leftover...