[BUILD LOG] WC X99 Build

[jrp3]

Figured I would do a build log, and maybe it will help someone out in the future. I started the process and ran into some issues and I am working my way through them.(These were all problems I created) I will of course start back at the beginning, as I had to remove everything to drill some holes in the case. I hope that this thread reiterates to people to do more research, or ask more questions prior to ordering. I am just hoping at the very least that I take my own advice on this one... Live and learn!

The build was "basically" based off of the parts list that ATMINSIDE created for me in this thread here :Clickity Click It is the "basically" part that bit me.

The list o' components I went with.

Case - Corsair 540D
Motherboard - EVGA X99 Classified
CPU - 5830K
Ram - 64 GB GSKILL Ripjaw (The black ones)
GPU - 2x980 4 GB SC ACX 2.0
PSU - 1000W 80+ Gold
HDD - 2xSamsung 500 GB Evo, 2x WD 2TB Enterprise


No water cooler selected yet, as the one that was recommended was always out of stock.
Here is a pic of most o' the stuff I got.



I went ahead and started the install, all going according to plan.
Power supply install - As others have stated, I am definitely a fan of having the power supply hidden away. The double compartment is nice in that I can wait to do some cord management until later.




Motherboard installed



Both WD HDDs installed



At this point I run into my first little issue. It turns out that the X99 Classified has a sweet right angle connector for USB 3.0, that you can see in the above pic. I am guessing this was done for wire management to try and make the final assembly look nice and clean. One slight problem, not gonna work in this case! With my second HDD installed in the slide out cage, there is no way to plug in the cord.

I either need to find a right angle plug adapter of some sort, make a new custom plug, or relocate the drive to one of the 5.25" bays on the other side. My initial plan is to forgo having a USB 3.0 and keep chugging along.

I hadn't ordered a water cooler at this point, as the recommended one was sold out. After a week or so, I decided to give up on Swiftech being in stock and find something else.

So I decided to get one o' these

WC - Thermaltake Pacific RL240 Water Cooling Kit

Various parts of it are visible in the first pic.

The obvious issue with this kit is the size of the pump/reservoir. It is too big to fit ANYWHERE in this case vertically. I was only able to find one spot that it will fit horizontally, with some small custom bracketry work required. I wanted to avoid horizontal for obvious reasons, but I think I can make it work.

I spent a few days trying to figure out a bracket system, and to finalize the location of the pump and reservoir. The clamp on brackets that came with the kit needed to be raised up to clear the HDD slide mount rails. I don't know how stable this will end up being, but I am using some threaded vibration dampeners and some metal bar stock to accomplish this.

After drilling the first two holes, I marked and drilled the remaining four that I needed.




The motherboard and 2nd GPU are installed again, and I went to mount the brackets to the frame. Turns out what I thought were 8-32 bolts that came with the kit, are in fact not. Will pick some up from the hardware store tomorrow and continue. If this bracket sytems works, I will probably change out the brackets and use a piece of aluminum bar stock instead of the vibration dampener risers. I will then just use the vibration pads that were supplied with the kit. I think it will look better, but will obviously wait to see how this turns out first.

The other thing that I believe is going to bite me, is the thickness of the radiator. I am not sure I will be able to installed it on the top. It is a tight fit with the fans, and I will be obstructing a fair amount of the fan that blows out the rear of the case. I will get a few pictures when I get to that point to see what you all think.

I believe all of these problems could have been avoided if I did a little more research prior to pulling the trigger. Not only could I have saved some time/work, but definitely could have saved some cash. I do want to point out that all of the problems I have encountered are on items I changed from ones that were reccomended by ATMINSIDE. I would have been done with the build by now, assuming I could have ever bought the swiftech...

I am looking forward to doing a custom water loop though, and I believe I have all the parts I need for that. I tried to do some more reading and research, and we shall see how it goes. TBC

John

 

[caddi daddi]

not to worry about side stepping a bit, it makes the rig YOURS.

 

[Blaylock]

 

[jrp3]

Finally had a little time to work on this again this morning. Work and taxes suck! Here are a few more pictures

Pump/reservoir installed


Close up of one of the 6 mounting points


The drive can be removed with the pump installed, not so true with the 2nd GPU


One question I am hoping someone can help me with. What is the type of connector called that plugs into the USB 3.0 port on the motherboard? As you can guess, I am having little luck searching for "right angle usb connector"

Here is a pic.


Even with the second HDD not installed in that spot, there is no way to get that plug into the mobo without putting a crap ton of stress on the board. I need to find a right angle adapter, or a complete new harness from the usb ports on the front of the computer. Any ideas here would be great.

John

 

[Blaylock]

John, I believe it's just called a 20 pin internal usb3.0 connector. I've done quite a bit of searching for several different adapters an have never come across one of those.

Rigs looking good BTW!

 

[jrp3]

Thanks for the info. I found a bunch of threads where people are looking for the same thing, but no premade adapter. Best option so far is this : Extension Cable

 

[jrp3]

Not much of an update, but just found out the radiator is definitely too thick. The fan doesn't clear the ram, so time to order a new radiator. I tossed around mounting the radiator short term on the top, but decided to just wait until I get the right radiator.

 

[Blaylock]

Ya that's the right move J. If you're gonna do it you'd might as well do it right.

 

[gkline]

Nice log. I opted to have enough room to work water cooling on my X99 mb so I opted for the Thermaltake Core X9. Not much more than a Corsair 540 and tons more room.

 

[EarthDog]

Gk... never hesitant to mention your build to others!!

Jest aside, Why not put that gigantic res (I have the much smaller one) and mount it in the other chamber? Also, will the rad fit in front and mount the fans on the other side of the baffle?

 

[gkline]

EarthDog, The Corsair 540 is a nice case BUT not an ideal Custom watercooler case for more than a 360 and 240 rad. I bet a lot of people who want to custom water cool are referred to the Corsair 540 even when they have multiple rads, big reservoirs etc merely because reviewers don't know about bigger cases within a reasonable price range.

I'm willing to take the verbal jags, but shouldn't the reviewers stay up with all the newer cases out there available for custom water cooling?

The Corsair 540 is $129.99 at Newegg and the Core X9 is $169.99. Looking at the problem this OP has with his reservoir fitting, it's a shame he wan't informed when he was doing selection that he might have a space problem.

 

[ATMINSIDE]

EarthDog, The Corsair 540 is a nice case BUT not an ideal Custom watercooler case for more than a 360 and 240 rad. I bet a lot of people who want to custom water cool are referred to the Corsair 540 even when they have multiple rads, big reservoirs etc merely because reviewers don't know about bigger cases within a reasonable price range.

I'm willing to take the verbal jags, but shouldn't the reviewers stay up with all the newer cases out there available for custom water cooling?

The Corsair 540 is $129.99 at Newegg and the Core X9 is $169.99. Looking at the problem this OP has with his reservoir fitting, it's a shame he wan't informed when he was doing selection that he might have a space problem.

And there's issues with the X9. It has terrible cable management, it's a monstrosity, and it's $40+ more than the Air 540.
Just because you like it doesn't mean it's the best option for everyone.

Is it nice? Yes.
Is it for everyone? No.

 

[EarthDog]

EarthDog, The Corsair 540 is a nice case BUT not an ideal Custom watercooler case for more than a 360 and 240 rad. I bet a lot of people who want to custom water cool are referred to the Corsair 540 even when they have multiple rads, big reservoirs etc merely because reviewers don't know about bigger cases within a reasonable price range.

Agreed, but not sure of your point? Did I misread that he has more than 5x120mm worth of radiator? If so, my fault!!!

I JUST moved out of that case with the same amount of rad (5x120mm in 3x and 2x120mm rads). My res was from EK but A LOT smaller and all was well.

I'm willing to take the verbal jags, but shouldn't the reviewers stay up with all the newer cases out there available for custom water cooling?

Not sure I was jabbing more than just (trying) having fun as you always mention your build and what you did. I will stop as it is clear you are not having the same fun... sorry there!

That said, I usually do not review cases. I am not up on the HUNDREDS of cases out there... but read below...

The Corsair 540 is $129.99 at Newegg and the Core X9 is $169.99. Looking at the problem this OP has with his reservoir fitting, it's a shame he wan't informed when he was doing selection that he might have a space problem.

I also read it as the OP went out on his own and purchased a different kit than was recommended in his original thread? Am I off there too? If so, I should just quickly back out of this thread! If not, nobody mislead him.

 

[gkline]

Earthdog, I learned the hard way, (I.E. a few different cases) that you can never have enough room for custom water cooling

 

[wagex]

number one rule to custom pc anything, if it doesnt fit.. make it. i managed to fit a 240 medium thickness radiator in an nzxt source 210

 

[Bishoff]

And there's issues with the X9. It has terrible cable management, it's a monstrosity, and it's $40+ more than the Air 540.
Just because you like it doesn't mean it's the best option for everyone.

Is it nice? Yes.
Is it for everyone? No.

Obviously, that goes for any case..what's your point though?

 

[wagex]

Obviously, that goes for any case..what's your point though?

is it nice? yes.
is it for everone? No.

pretty straight to the point.

 

[EarthDog]

Obviously, that goes for any case..what's your point though?

If I can read between the lines here, I think he was saying that Core X9 is overkill for 2x120mm worth of radiator which what the OP wants. There are very few people that would utilize much more than 5x120mm worth of radiator that the Air 540 holds so why pay ~33% more for something that wont be used?

I am reviewing the Core x9 and it is an absolute monstrosity as far as size goes with its over 2' of depth in particular which for a lot of people is also a turnoff.

Gk also inferred that he mislead the OP into this purchase which, if I am reading things correctly, didn't happen as the OP went out on his own to get a different kit than was recommended and still has room for another 3x120mm rad for expansion.


I dont know... maybe I am reaching, but I am trying to prevent this thread from reaching critical mass.......................................... play nice again please.

 

[Bishoff]

If I can read between the lines here, I think he was saying that Core X9 is overkill for 2x120mm worth of radiator which what the OP wants. There are very few people that would utilize much more than 5x120mm worth of radiator that the Air 540 holds so why pay ~33% more for something that wont be used?

I am reviewing the Core x9 and it is an absolute monstrosity as far as size goes with its over 2' of depth in particular which for a lot of people is also a turnoff.

Gk also inferred that he mislead the OP into this purchase which, if I am reading things correctly, didn't happen as the OP went out on his own to get a different kit than was recommended and still has room for another 3x120mm rad for expansion.


I dont know... maybe I am reaching, but I am trying to prevent this thread from reaching critical mass.......................................... play nice again please.

Mmmm..indeed. So much chest thumping lately, for no reason. Keep it fun people, it's a hobby not a life threatening, medical type of decision

To the OP...that's part of the fun to make stuff work. Gonna be a kick *** rig!

 

[ATMINSIDE]

Obviously, that goes for any case..what's your point though?

My point is that every case is a personal choice. Just because one person likes a case doesn't mean another person will.
So, gkline was recommending the X9, I was just making the point that it isn't for everyone. Which applies to any case.