Fractal Define R6... in Gunmetal :)

[custom90gt]

LOL, that's a lot of fans and other goodies!

 

[deathman20]

Doing some testing right now on 3x 120s and the lights. Glad I got room on the backside of the tray because cables, cables, and more cables!

Definitely these fans are way quieter than the 120mms I have on my heatsink and in my old case. Actually I think that is what is making my noise in the case. Those suckers are noisy now that I can get close to them with other fans as a reference.

 

[deathman20]

I got a few videos on my Cell Phone, I will try to combine them and upload it to youtube (yeah popping my cherry for first video upload). Kinda cool how the lighting effects work, really shows in the light strips in one of the videos where you can stack "color combos" ontop of each other.

As well just noticed, and works out great for timing, that Corsair released their beta software that combined the Link (fans/lights) and Cue (water cooling) suites together. Only got about 90min of play time with it last night just unpacking and setting up this brief test but so cool!

 

[deathman20]

And got me my AOI water cooler. Yeah this should clean up the visuals in the case nicely and reduce noise a bit more.

 

[deathman20]

Few video files i mashed together from last night. They where in 4k but down converted them to 1080p right now.
And yes you can here my noisy noisy 120mm fans on my CPU heatsink... and the other PC right behind me which still have to get into a new case to keep it cooler and quieter.

Have to figure a better way to load videos up to youtube nicely. Be great if I could just edit them on my mobile and do a quick upload but haven't found a good video editor yet.

 

[Voodoo Rufus]

I'm eyeing this case, but am having problems envisioning a custom water loop in it with a rad on the top. I have a 4x120 now but that likely won't fit. 3x140s would be nice. What kind of rad do you think you could fit on top while retaining a 5.25" optical drive?

 

[deathman20]

I'm eyeing this case, but am having problems envisioning a custom water loop in it with a rad on the top. I have a 4x120 now but that likely won't fit. 3x140s would be nice. What kind of rad do you think you could fit on top while retaining a 5.25" optical drive?

I'll double check but i think the drive cage has to be in the original position for the 5.25" bay to be in. If that is the case I think 240 and 280 is the biggest you can fit up top. 360 might push it to much. 240 might be all you could fit up front as for the 280 I believe moving the drive cage is nessisary. If you got a short enough PSU could fit a 240/280 on the bottom.

3x 140 I know would fit up top but again no optical drive and has to be thin due to clearance of mobo.

Utilizing the 5.25" bay for an optical drive I think does limit the possibility.

 

[deathman20]

And to follow up yes 2x 140s max on the top of you want to use a optical drive still as well the drive bay can't be flush with the motherboard tray unless modifications are done to the mounting bracket.

 

[deathman20]

And got it all up and running but... not getting full contact on the waterblock. After a few attemps last night I had to call it off. Going to look at it again tonight. Thankfully I still have a little thermal compound left but running out if my solutions keep failing.

Cores 0,2,3 no problem nice and cool. Core 1 though I know I'm not getting contact since when it goes it spikes right to to 80-100C instantly. Last attempt to fix it last night actually made it worse for all the cores but 0,2 where still good, 1 was horrible and 3 was ok.

Probably post this issue over in the water cooling section but... The block is tight to the cpu actually can't get it any tighter. Only thing I can think of is to get some plastic rings to place on the back of the mobo to help get more pressure. Everything is tightened down (by hand) and even a little twist with the screw driver but its maxed out due to the standoffs. Also found it odd that the backplate on the back of the mobo and the standoffs are just free floating, as in after I get it in it can move forward and backward a little in the holes. All the ones I've had mounted the back plate to the board both front and back securely.

 

[custom90gt]

You didn't have issues with core 1 with air cooling? Seems odd that switching cooling would cause issues. Is the clamping force that different? How does your paste job look when you take the block off?

 

[deathman20]

You didn't have issues with core 1 with air cooling? Seems odd that switching cooling would cause issues. Is the clamping force that different? How does your paste job look when you take the block off?

Yeah no issue with the heatsink I had on there... all even did an Intel Burn Test before pulling it off (been on there since I got the board so 2 years old or so) and was sitting around 78-80C fully loaded. Paste spread has been great on the attempts I've tried and pulled off, and reapplied and tried again, and again, and again.

So yeah seems like a few people have issues with the back plate and proper clamping force. Its few and far between but my only guess is the motherboard is too thin so its not getting the proper clamp. I mean I can physically hand tighten all the screws to the maximum by hand on the block, there is something off being able to do that. The back plate with the stand offs just floats in the air, lots of slop which is normal from everything I've been reading just unusual to me. Now the clamp that was used on my air cooler hand a hand screw to sandwich the back plate and motherboard together tight with plastic O-Rings as a separator between the thumb screw/backplate and motherboard. So maybe I get a few plastic washers, or maybe use the ones I have, to get a little more clamping force onto the heatsink. Also tried pushing the block, but that didn't seem to do anything with temps.

I posted a question on their forums so we'll see what others come up with on it over there.

 

[don256us]

Looks nice. I am interested in the HDD bay setup they have here. I have three different Fractal cases and I truly love them. They are heavy as hell but you will never get case vibration from them. They are solid. Your build is looking good.

 

[deathman20]

Looks nice. I am interested in the HDD bay setup they have here. I have three different Fractal cases and I truly love them. They are heavy as hell but you will never get case vibration from them. They are solid. Your build is looking good.

Thanks. It's getting there just need to solve the block issue before moving forward with wire cleanup and lighting. The mess of cables... fun fun. Forgot to take a pic of the business side last night but it looks nice and clean.

Oh and got to say... this is so quiet now! I had to feel the airflow just to make sure the fans where on. Course I saw them spinning but still. Very impressive on quiet (600rpm) or even balanced (950-1000rpm). Performance I could start hearing it a little more but that was with panels off and me sitting within inches of it.

 

[Voodoo Rufus]

2x140 would be plenty for the CPU. I like to water cool my GPUs, too, so that might necessitate another 2x140 up front. How's the noise and temps on your GPUs on air at load?

 

[deathman20]

2x140 would be plenty for the CPU. I like to water cool my GPUs, too, so that might necessitate another 2x140 up front. How's the noise and temps on your GPUs on air at load?

My old 290 was LOUD and hot. My 1060 and 1080ti are actually decent. The 1060s are smaller single fan setups. Get up to around 70 with 60-70% fan speed. Its noticable for noise but still quieter than the 290.

Now my 1080ti... that is relatively quiet. 3 fans 50-60% I can hear it but it's not distracting by any means. Curious how it plays out in the new case since I removed the 1060 I had in the case. Least this under load mid 60s typically. With the power limiter cranked.

 

[deathman20]

Still at a loss here on the cooler. No luck solving the cooling issue.

 

[custom90gt]

Still at a loss here on the cooler. No luck solving the cooling issue.

I mean it sounds like either they have a manufacturing defect or something else is going on. I don't see how MB thickness can really play that much of a role. When my H115i is tightened down there is absolutely zero play between the block and the CPU. Your not somehow using the wrong screws or something are you? You can put plastic washers between the screw head and the bracket that goes over the block. Ace Hardware has an amazing assortment of nuts/bolts/washers and is my go to for computer mounting hardware. But in all reality you shouldn't have to do any of that...

I see you tried washers behind the mb, did that tighten up the block so it doesn't move when the screws are tight? I mean all of my intel CPUs have had a core that ran 15-25C hotter than the rest that required a delid to fix.

 

[deathman20]

I mean it sounds like either they have a manufacturing defect or something else is going on. I don't see how MB thickness can really play that much of a role. When my H115i is tightened down there is absolutely zero play between the block and the CPU. Your not somehow using the wrong screws or something are you? You can put plastic washers between the screw head and the bracket that goes over the block. Ace Hardware has an amazing assortment of nuts/bolts/washers and is my go to for computer mounting hardware. But in all reality you shouldn't have to do any of that...

I see you tried washers behind the mb, did that tighten up the block so it doesn't move when the screws are tight? I mean all of my intel CPUs have had a core that ran 15-25C hotter than the rest that required a delid to fix.

I did add washers, roughly 1/16" thick that I used on my Ultra120 to get it a nice clamp on the board, and really, don't know if it really made that much of a difference. I might try adding the metal ones as well as a last resort trying it out but I know that go the standoffs reaaaly close to the motherboard itself, don't want to scratch it. There is no play between the block and CPU, there is NONE. There is no flex, no rotation, no nothing. Even pushing against it when its on I see zero movement in temps, with or without the washers. Now MB Thickness was mentioning as a few in the corsair forums mentioned it initially with bad contact and added the washers and seemed to do the trick for them. I had metal ones between the screw head and the block bracket but, i think the bracket is actually sitting on the standoff, so adding more between the screw head and bracket wouldn't make any difference. Even flipped the bracket upside down last night to see if it would help (shinney side was down)

Now you mention the core temp difference, while ok I might be able to see that on a new CPU, but I've had this for almost 2 years and even ran a quick test before disconnecting the heatsink to put this on. All cores where within 1-2C of each other. Switching coolers shouldn't have a drastic jump in temps like that, let alone having to down clock it so far and dropping the voltage below nominal to just get the CPU to not throttle (see below).

So got it to stop throttling last night just to test it out if the pump was an issue. Water temps rose slowly with the water (really slow) and increased/decreased appropriately with the pump speed and fan speed on the rad. Could feel the coolant moving in the tubes. So I don't think its a pump issue but I really do think its a contact issue between the block and CPU or something inside the block is wrong.

Air Temp 18C / 3.2Ghz @ 1.1V
Idle / Load
Core 0 = 20-22C / 59C
Core 1 = 30-35C / 80C
Core 2 = 18-20C / 43C
Core 3 = 19-21C / 53C

Went up maybe 2-3C from those temps during a 10min run of Intel Burn Test, which was the change in the water temp during the test roughly.

Yeah sadly at a loss I might just have to Return/RMA it back to Newegg because something is off and I can't determine what it is. Probably drop my heatsink back on tonight if trying 1-2 other things don't work out so I can use my PC at least.

Edit: Running out of thermal paste, got some coming Saturday/Sunday so got to be cautious of what I try out between now and then.

Edit of an Edit: I might try to rotate the block 180 (if I got enough cable) and see if the core temps change. Least might mean there is something wrong with the block, weather its the surface or internal. Again will try this tonight.

 

[Voodoo Rufus]

My old 290 was LOUD and hot. My 1060 and 1080ti are actually decent. The 1060s are smaller single fan setups. Get up to around 70 with 60-70% fan speed. Its noticable for noise but still quieter than the 290.

Now my 1080ti... that is relatively quiet. 3 fans 50-60% I can hear it but it's not distracting by any means. Curious how it plays out in the new case since I removed the 1060 I had in the case. Least this under load mid 60s typically. With the power limiter cranked.

I've used evga Hydrocoppers for my last couple GPUs (980Ti and 580Ti). Can't get them to bust 35C on load with my water setup. Debating whether to plan for these in a Fractal setup, or just keep my Mountain Mods Pinnacle 24 rumbling.

 

[deathman20]

I've used evga Hydrocoppers for my last couple GPUs (980Ti and 580Ti). Can't get them to bust 35C on load with my water setup. Debating whether to plan for these in a Fractal setup, or just keep my Mountain Mods Pinnacle 24 rumbling.

So last night while testing my freaky temp issue with the water loop. I can hear my fans on the GPU but wasn't horrible (still way quieter than my old CPU/Case fans), and really with the case on and gaming I'm sure you could hear them a little but nothing screaming. I set my fan curve at least on the GPU to be for every % is set to the corresponding temp. 31C = 31% / 60C = 60% so on so forth. Course still had the side of my case off, case fans where at quiet or "balanced" setting in the manager which meant dead quiet still.

Originally was thinking custom loop, but pricing just got to be too high and not sure if I felt comfortable with a setup that I'd build yet especially with CPU and GPU. So went this route at least with the CPU for now (my main noise maker). Once I get it all sorted out I will make another video of it and at least you can hear the noise on the setup and see what you think. Sad part is if I have to send back the cooler (which I think will happen) I'm guessing I'll be waiting a bit unless Newegg will allow cross ship.