Build log: Dual SR2 360 rads in Lian Li PC-O11 (in progress)

[GTXJackBauer]

Its funny, because the 'pressure' thing isn't proven either way either... about the only thing people can say there is positive keeps some dust out by not taking air in through unfiltered cracks in the case. But remember, pressure is a negligible thing considering a PC case isn't remotely sealed.

Positive Pressure has more Pros than Cons as opposed to Negative Pressure. On top of keeping dust away, your rads enjoy cooler ambient air.

Now with Negative Pressure, where is the cooler air coming from? The cracks? I feel there will be more resistance as it's chocked for air, even more so than going through a rad.

 

[EarthDog]

Positive Pressure has more Pros than Cons as opposed to Negative Pressure. On top of keeping dust away, your rads enjoy cooler ambient air.

Now with Negative Pressure, where is the cooler air coming from? The cracks? I feel there will be more resistance as it's chocked for air, even more so than going through a rad.

That is a case by case thing, bud. There really isn't a concrete answer to more intake CFM being better than more exhaust CFM.

Cool air from a 'negative' pressure case comes from the intake fans as well - no different than positive pressure. In fact, I would think trying to stuff more air in the case without the same or more coming out thwarts the intake fans.........

Some air comes through the cracks, but that has little to do with temps, but dust. That is really the ONLY drawback (IMO) of negative pressure and even that, isn't a huge issue. I've always run more exhaust CFM than intake with great results in my chassis.

A system with more CFM intake than exhaust isn't choked (chocked is what you do to a truck tire) at all. If anything, more intake is choked due to trying to 'stuff' more air (this non existant pressure thing people talk about) into a space without removing it. More exhaust tends to prevent hot spots if I remember my Skinny labs properly.

 

[Sprucemoose]

I've finally had some time this weekend to continue the build. I've used most of the day learning to bend tubes for the first time. And it's not easy, I must say!! I have given up aiming for perfect, but I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. Here are the final result of the plumbing:

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Also, I used one of the side ports on the bottom radiator to connect a drain valve. It swivels into place:

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In order to match the pump outlet and the bottom radiator inlet, I had to mount the pump further into the main chamber. I used some metal washers to help me with that:

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[Zerileous]

Looks pretty close to perfect to me!

 

[Sprucemoose]

Got the machine up and running now, and I'm pleased with how it turned out. Final pictures will be coming, but for now, I just want to share some temps. I skipped installing the flow meter, so I have no idea of how much water is going through the loop.

Some preliminary testing:

Running 24 threads Prime95 small FFTs + Furmark 1024x768 windowed simultaneously until temperature equilibrium had been achieved:
Ambient temp 25 C (Measured in the rear chamber next to the side in-take fans)
Water temp 36 C
Delta-T 11 C (Difference between water and ambient temp)
Fans and pump 100%
GPU temp 45 C
CPU temp 69 C (this fluctuate much, measured with AMD Ryzen Master)

At idle with fans and pump turned down for silence:,
Ambient temp 25 C
Water temp 31 C
Delta-T 6 C
Fans 35% (500rpm)
Pump 35% (800rpm)
GPU 34 C
CPU 38-40 C

I believe that these numbers are well within the accepted range, right? For now, I've tied Delta-T to the fan speed in the Aquaero controller. The fans are set to aim for a Delta-T of 12C while keeping a minimum speed of 35%. This means that as the Delta-T rises, the fans will ramp up automatically to whatever speed that is necessary to maintain Delta-T at 12C. The pump is also set to a minimum speed of 35%, but won't run faster until Delta-T is above 20C.

EDIT: Played a round of Battlefield V with all graphics settings maxed out. Water temp rose to 37C, delta-T stabilized at the configured limit of 12C as the fans held a speed of 59% (800rpm). This build seems to run pretty silent even with gaming, and it's noticeably more quiet than my old machine.

 

[MaddMutt]

-- Also, I used one of the side ports on the bottom radiator to connect a drain valve. It swivels into place:

That was a very good idea and will come in handy if you need to do any work on the loop. I made a extra hose (flexible & with connectors) to connect to my drain valve. This allowed me to quickly connect and capture the coolant. For your first time, I think it's a nice clean look. I would not worry about the tubing unless you have OCD or plan on displaying it @ Pimp My Rig.MTV.
Are you using colored coolant?? Any RGB??
We will be waiting on final pictures

 

[Sprucemoose]

-- Also, I used one of the side ports on the bottom radiator to connect a drain valve. It swivels into place:

That was a very good idea and will come in handy if you need to do any work on the loop. I made a extra hose (flexible & with connectors) to connect to my drain valve. This allowed me to quickly connect and capture the coolant. For your first time, I think it's a nice clean look. I would not worry about the tubing unless you have OCD or plan on displaying it @ Pimp My Rig.MTV.
Are you using colored coolant?? Any RGB??
We will be waiting on final pictures

Pictures will be coming, but I first need to get Lightroom migrated to this new computer. For coolant, I'll only be using anionized water together with a couple of drops of Mayhems biocide (copper sulfate). Distilled water is not commonplace in stores where I live, but anionized water has served me well in the past. I won't put any dyes or colored coolant in it, but I think the RGBs should be enough color. Regarding lighting, I put 9x Corsair ML120 RGB fans in the case together with the two RGB RAM sticks, so there is plenty of color if needed. I prefer a more clean look, though, without too much vibrant colors.

 

[Zerileous]

Looking great!

FYI if any of your blocks use a nickel plating, the copper sulfate (and silver kill coils) are mildly corrosive to the plating. It's fine for straight copper/brass. Benzalkonium chloride based biocide "Petra PT Nuke" is safe for nickel plating, as are most clear coolants used today.

 

[Sprucemoose]

Looking great!

FYI if any of your blocks use a nickel plating, the copper sulfate (and silver kill coils) are mildly corrosive to the plating. It's fine for straight copper/brass. Benzalkonium chloride based biocide "Petra PT Nuke" is safe for nickel plating, as are most clear coolants used today.

After your comment, I read up on the copper sulphate vs nickel plating issue. After all the research I put into this build, I forgot about reading up on cooling liquids. In my last build, I only used water + a couple of drops of the blue PT nuke (which contains copper sulphate), and it has run very well for years. Now, I'm a bit worried whether this is a good idea or not, although I'm not really sure how big of an issue this is. I already put the Mayhem copper sulphate into my system (approximately 1 drop per liter of water), but it hasn't run for more than a few days. Since this is a brand new build, I might just flush everything and pick up some clear EK cryofuel pre-mixed liquid. This should be ok with the nickel plating in the blocks, right?

 

[GTXJackBauer]

Yep, should be good if you get the premixed fluid. Just steer away from the colored stuff since it could stain and gunk up things. I personally use Aquacomputer's Ultra Clear fluid and has worked like a charm.

 

[Sprucemoose]

Here are some pictures of the new rig. I haven't experienced too much with color-schemes yet, but blue and white for you:

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[GTXJackBauer]

Very nice well done!

 

[tommycarl1]

Aquaero 6LT

Can you post some pics with the Aquaero 6LT mounted when fully hooked up? and isn't that case made out of aluminum? or is the XL version. Thinking about getting that Aquaero 6LT and wondering where to mount it in the 011 XL case. Also did you have any problems mounting the heatsink to it? many people complain about that part on the end of the circuit board being in the way.

 

[Sprucemoose]

Can you post some pics with the Aquaero 6LT mounted when fully hooked up? and isn't that case made out of aluminum? or is the XL version. Thinking about getting that Aquaero 6LT and wondering where to mount it in the 011 XL case. Also did you have any problems mounting the heatsink to it? many people complain about that part on the end of the circuit board being in the way.

Here you go! I don't know how the rear chamber is in the XL, but it's probably almost the same as mine (I use the regular O11 Dynamic). I chose to use some magnets screwed to the mounting feet of the Aquaero. Then I could just stick it to the side of the chassis, and I didn't need to drill into the case. The case itself is made of steel plates, but the front is brushed aluminum. I had no issues with the Aquaero heatsink, it fit just fine.

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[GTXJackBauer]

Awesome rig Spruce!

Just a fyi, they just released an extension to the AQ6 or standalone unit. It's basically a super sized QUADRO.

 

[Sprucemoose]

Awesome rig Spruce!

Just a fyi, they just released an extension to the AQ6 or standalone unit. It's basically a super sized QUADRO.

Thanks for the links. I thought about using a Quadro myself, but it doesn't support the use of virtual sensors as inputs for the fans and pumps (don't know if the Octo can do that yet, but the Aquaero was the only unit that supported virtual sensors when I did the planning). I've used the delta temperature between water and ambient (Delta T) as the controlling temperature in my last build, and this has worked great. In this new build, I've set the fans to keep at delta T of no more than 10C. If the Delta T rises above 15C, the pump also increases its output. The PC is dead silent during regular desktop work with fans at 35% (400rpm) and pump at 40% (800rpm), and has great cooling during gaming.

Just for testing, I've managed to OC the CPU to [email protected] all core, RAM to 3600@CL16 and the GPU to a max boost of about 2160MHz with memory at 2100MHz (flashed GPU bios to increase power limit to 127%).

3DMark scores:
Time Spy 16348
Time Spy Extreme 7852
Port Royal 10429

For daily usage, the CPU is at stock with a vCore offset of -0.05V, GPU at stock and RAM@3600MHz 1.36V (infinity fabric at 1800MHz, 1:1). At these settings the CPU temp tops out at 76C and the GPU at 48C during simultaneous Furmark/Prime95 torture tests.

 

[occamsblade]

I really wish I knew more about the controller. There are moments when I regret getting PMW fans and wish I had stuck to a single speed fan. Gorgeous build by the way. I think the tube size fits perfectly and allows for nice tight bends.

 

[Dan Bigglesly]

Excellent build, very sleek and classy. Are those stacked washers between the singularity mount bracket and the fans?

 

[Sprucemoose]

I really wish I knew more about the controller. There are moments when I regret getting PMW fans and wish I had stuck to a single speed fan. Gorgeous build by the way. I think the tube size fits perfectly and allows for nice tight bends.

Thanks! I'm not able to say much negative about the fan controller. The Aquaero 5 served me very well in my last computer, and I had no second thoughts when going for the Aquaero 6 in this build. Programmable and fully autonomous without the need to be connected to a running program. It's a great controller!

Excellent build, very sleek and classy. Are those stacked washers between the singularity mount bracket and the fans?

Thanks! Correct, the washers were put there to line up the pump outlet/bottom radiator and the top radiator/reservoir. I would have gone for a different solution with a slightly more refined look if I could think of anything. But at the end of the build, I just wanted to finish putting everything together.

 

[K-amps]

Tastefully done, love it!