Project Log: Whopper!

[4GHZ_or_bust]

I got a few things in and got the plans figured out. Right now I have:
Mountain Mod U2-UFO case, all brushed aluminum with 10slot PCI backplate and mobo tray for EVGA SR-2
the aforementioned SR-2 mobo
Xeon X5650 x2
Silverstone ST1500

I have on order a few more parts. Most notably the water block for SR-2 chipset as it's hard to find now.

I plan to take my current main rig of 2 years (AMD 1090t), steal the GTX 470 x2 (with water blocks), Koolance RP454x2 dual pump/res, pair of MCP655 water pump, hard drives, and SSD. Maybe one of the radiator?

I am going to buy (over the next month or so: Alphacool UT60 360 (x2), Mountainmod Pedestal to mount the radiators, some good fans for that radiator, white case lights, black hose, red anti-kink coil, and probably half a pint of my blood because the case has some sharp edges. Later on perhaps over the summer I'll get pair of GTX 580 and matching gpu water blocks.

In all I estimate about 1200w of heat being generated from all 4 video cards (stock speed, yes I'm a wuss ) and overclocked CPUs. I couldn't find exact TDP data for those Alphacool radiator but it's 60mm thick, uses flat channel as opposed to round channel, and with Delta fans 2 rads should be enough. If not I have Swiftech 320 I can throw on my rig for another 400w of heat removal.

Pictures to follow when I start getting stuff and get the case cleaned up a bit. I'm also going to see if I can get MM to make an alteration to the pedestal I want to get. Instead of fan holes or 5.25" bay hole on the front, I wanted large window so I can make my Whopper earn it's name.

Whopper was chosen because U2-UFO case is huge, at 18"x18"x18" (3 and 3/8 cu ft) plus pedestal to add about 9" to the total height. Because the SR-2 mobo is freakin' huge. Because the whole project is also freakin' huge. And lastly, I'm going to install a bunch of flashing yellow LEDs to the pedestal's front window to make it look a bit like mini WOPR

No relation to the food by the "king"

Now if I can find Tic-Tac-Toe game that can let computer play against itself.

Total cost of the project: more than it's worth for most average people.

 

[4GHZ_or_bust]

OK first order: do I want the case in different color or leave it brushed aluminum? Mountain Mod only offered in brushed aluminum or 2 different type of black so I'd have to get paint job done either by myself or at a paint shop.

WOPR were more of either flat or satin medium grey. Painting metal isn't the easiest thing to do and when you got a really big case it can take a while.

 

[manu2b]

Brushed aluminium is NIIIICEEE!

 

[Team kizb]

Which fans do you plan to use for the Rads? I haven't decided what to go with so ordered just 1 of a couple different types to try out.

Cool name for the computer!

 

[4GHZ_or_bust]

Brushed aluminium is NIIIICEEE!

Yeah. Maybe I'll leave it brushed aluminum. I still need to clean out the dust and stuff from previous owner and wait for reply from MM site about custom version of their existing product.

Which fans do you plan to use for the Rads? I haven't decided what to go with so ordered just 1 of a couple different types to try out.

I'm planning on Delta AFB1212HHE tops 120cfm and good pressure. I could always go with stronger Delta that pushes over 240 cfm, being deaf the noise won't be an issue but they are around $40 each plus I don't want FAA to come snooping around my house looking for illegal low flying planes.

Cool name for the computer!

Thanks! I stole the idea from Wiki of WOPR (which is pronounced as whopper) when I was looking at monster sounding names.

 

[4GHZ_or_bust]

2 updates:

Based on suggestion I got, I'm going with 360 GTX radiators instead as it works better with high speed fans like Delta's. Also I'm going to order something different from MM.com: instead of pedestal to sit on the bottom or the top (and making my case some 27" tall) I decided to get a custom work on Monticle case and mount it on the side of the case. It'll house the radiators.

Still waiting on the parts I've already ordered.

 

[psionic98]

Sounds like it should be sweet! Isn't the WOPR from "War Games" a flat graphite like color.. though brushed alum should look nice too! I think at that point you'll have to paint the letters a darker color as the ivory-like white won't really stand out on brushed aluminum

 

[4GHZ_or_bust]

Sounds like it should be sweet! Isn't the WOPR from "War Games" a flat graphite like color.. though brushed alum should look nice too! I think at that point you'll have to paint the letters a darker color as the ivory-like white won't really stand out on brushed aluminum

Yes the machine was a flat grey color. I don't want a drab grey color though and it's hard to change color while preserving brushed aluminum look so I'll leave it silver.

I had thought about putting WOPR like logo on the case but I can't quite find a free font that matches the logo in the movie, especially that R.

 

[4GHZ_or_bust]

Got started as I'm getting some of the parts in today. More coming in soon. I also got a new power supply yesterday but it was a "special" model with pre-melted wires Sent it back to Newegg for a real new one and not a mixed up returned defective power supply.

I've decided to keep the CPU air cooled for the moment, they don't get as hot as GPU do and keeping them apart the GPU won't end up cooking CPU and making multiple loops that are separate is too much work.

CPU cooler: 2x Cooler Master V6 GT which claimed to do 200w of heat removal. So it should be able to handle even overclocked CPU. But dang it's huge. It now look like twin fat towers on my mobo.

I also installed the chipset cooler. The stock cooler are probably fine but with 4 video card, air flow may be somewhat restricted over the stock fan so I decided to replace it.

item|bought from|spent so far
case + X5650 x2 CPUs + EVGA SR-2|classified|$2200 total
Cooler Master V6 x2|Macmall|$100 shipped (sale)
power supply|Newegg|$300
EK SR2 chipset cooler|EK|$180
Koolance 180 degree connector for my RP-452x2|FrozenCPU|$11
Delta 120mmx38mm 120CFM (lots of em for radiator)|FrozenCPU|$137
Black Ice GTX Extreme 360 x2|FrozenCPU|$240
hoses, anti-kink coil, etc|FrozenCPU|$30
4x 90° rotary fittings| |$35
10x straight fittings|FrozenCPU|$59
|Total so far|An arm and a Leg...

Edit: forgot to mention I used FrozenCPU discount code so it's a bit cheaper than typical

Above table does not include existing stuff (HD, SSD, RAM, DVD drive, 2x pumps, reservoir, etc) that I already have.

I held off the hose fittings as I needed to see the clearance between heat sink and blocks. Still waiting for final word on Mountain Mods.

When it's mostly done I'm going to move the hard drives, SSD, 2 GTX 470, water pump, reservoir, and stuff off my AMD rig and sell what's left.

I did briefly consider getting 2 more 470's for quad SLi gaming but quickly killed it because very few games benefit from quad anyway. 2 video SLi performance increase are noticeable. Tri-SLi don't show as much improvement and quad is overkill for gaming. 470 is old technology and when I checked, 580 doesn't cost that much more. Plus used 580 is easier to get. But that's another month or 2 as I've spent too much right now.

EDIT 2: ignore the cooler mount in the first picture below. I failed at reading manual and installed them wrong.

 

[4GHZ_or_bust]

Update: got word back they have the custom version of Monticle ready. Another $180 on the total and I have coming in a "side" pedestal for U2-UFO case to house radiators and fans.

 

[Team kizb]

Looking good! The EK block looks sweet!

 

[4GHZ_or_bust]

Some updates

I got the radiators and fans (thick radiator + thick fan = lotta space needed) and hoses. Still waiting for a few more parts to wire up the fans, fan ports to plug it all in, 90° fittings for mobo (due to low clearance between CPU coolers and chipset coolers)




I also got some LEDs. I got a 5 meter reel of LED strip that is easily customizeable so I can run em around the inside of the case.



And some "red" flashing LEDs. See video of the "red" LEDs flashing in action:

(pretty sure they are not red... Chinese seller that are either color blind or just retarded.)

 

[4GHZ_or_bust]

Going to ditch the air coolers after all. Even with low profile 90° elbows, there re not enough clearance between the chipset blocks and to cooler towers to install any fittings.

While I was looking around for EK Supreme HF, I just found out that EK do sell the block with acrylic red top, which would match my mobo perfectly so I ordered 2 off performance-pcs (Ek also makes blue and ugly green top as well as clear, plus 3mm holes so I also picked up a few white 3mm LEDs to light up those blocks.

ok with blue + yellow flashing leds or should I replace blue with red?

 

[4GHZ_or_bust]

Got the stuff in today. FedEx lied about estimated delivery as it was supposed to be Monday. I have not checked the new power supply yet as I wanted to play with other new toys



New EK water blocks for my CPU. These are the red top version. FWIW the clear/red/blue/green tops have 2 holes for 3mm LEDs if you wanted to light em up.



The parts. One bag contains the parts for Intel 775, 1155, 1156, and 1366 plus AMD sockets and back plate. One bag contains parts for socket 2011, and the third bag (hidden at the bottom of the box) has 2 more back plates.



The top and bottom view of the water blocks



Mirror test. The bottom is very smooth and polished but it's not milled smooth. There is slight ripple like they were molded then polished with no milling. Maybe I should consider lapping if I get bad temp.



The view of the water blocks with 2x compression fittings for 1/2" ID 3/4" OD hoses. Very close with less than 1mm gap. Just barely enough to be usable.



My half-***ed attempt to light up the block since I still don't have 3mm white LED, and my camera don't like manual setting so it doesn't look as good as they do in reality.



The motherboard with the blocks installed. I did find a problem: the compression fitting I wanted to use on the chipset block is too close to the water block post. I could either find a regular nut that fits the post threading, or use a regular barb instead of compression fitting. :/

Still to do: hoses!! Sleeving power supply cables if removing the pins aren't a major PITA. Taking out the reservoir, pumps, video cards, etc from my AMD rig. Putting them together. Then leak testing. I got the LED strips (mostly) installed but I still need to wire them up, and I'm still waiting for Monticle case so I could install the rest of the LED strips.

To add to the total spent list I posted above, I have spent an additional:

2x EK Supreme HF Red|$80 ea
4 more compression fittings|$5 ea
Monticle custom case (as side pedestal)|$180
assorted screws|$10
6 fan grills|$15
LED volt meter panel x3|$10 each

Volt meter I got off eBay are panel mounted and reportedly has 0.01v to 30v reading in 0.01v increment. I'm going to install all 3 to monitor in real time the 3.3v, 5v, and 12v rails. The Kaze Master fan control I have on my main will still be used for temp and pump RPM monitoring.

 

[hokiealumnus]

Looks like this is going to be an awesome build. Subscribed!

 

[4GHZ_or_bust]

I took apart my old rig to get the GTX 470's out and installed in my new rig. I decided it had been in near nonstop 24/7 folding for over 2 years that I should check the termal pad and paste. AS5 were OK and still semi-soft but the termal pads on the memory and power chips had crumbled like dried mud. So I needed to get new pad anyway for both GTX 470s. Plus someone on another forum mentioned fitting extender so I ordered one so I could use the compression fitting on the chipset block.

Being Saturday, they probably won't have the stuff packed or shipped until Monday so it'd be a few more days. :/ Gives me time to work on sleeving and clearing dust off my old rig so I could start selling left overs.

 

[4GHZ_or_bust]

Some more progress done today. Got the new Monticle case in so I started putting it together and installed the radiators.


Shiny new case. Unlike the standard Monticle case on MM site, I had this one made with 3x 120mm fan holes on the front and back and no mobo tray.


Mostly assembled. It is 18x18x9, a tad wider and deeper than a standard mid tower case.


Attached to the side of U2-UFO case.


Front radiator/fan set installed


Rear fan/radiator installed


interior view of the case. I am not going to sleeve all the wires. Some fan wires area major PITA to sleeve without cutting off the pins, then re-crimping them, and I don't want to sleeve 3 individual wires it seems like a waste.

There is another fan power bus (4 ports) mounted on the under side of horizontal mobo braces for the rest of the lower case fans. Upper case fans will run off mobo.

Still waiting for the rest of the stuff so I can put the water blocks back on and finish sleeving the PSU cables.

The whole rig is starting to get very heavy, at about 30 pounds (14Kg) now. When I add in the water stuff (reservoir, pump, etc) + drives + video card and fill with water I expect the total weight to reach 50 lbs (around 23Kg)

 

[hokiealumnus]

Man this thing is epic. UFO plus additional space needed. Rock on 4GHz!

 

[4GHZ_or_bust]

Got a bunch of stuff today. New termal pads so I could finish my video cards, fitting extender, etc.

I got the WC part completed and started leak testing. SO far no sign of problem. I still need to finish sleeving the power cables and wire up LEDs, then install drives and pray.

I had to cut my day short because someone did not like me today. First, I found out how much pain a 5 lbs copper block can inflict when dropped on to my bare feet. Then I found out how much pain a 5 feet high drop of OCZ 550w power supply I used to power the pumps can do to my bare feet. Same feet, 2 heavy dropped items.

 

[4GHZ_or_bust]

Some hours ago I had a bit of a disaster. While I was working on wiring the LEDs and putting the finishing touch so I could start memtest, I had the clip on lamp a little too close to one of the hose.





So I had to drain a bit to do a quick replacement (dirty cloth came in handy for spill control) and refilled the water. When I cut the melted hose to check, it was down to just about a mm of thickness left.



Not all wires are sleeved yet but I did get ATX done. What a major PITA since I couldn't remove the pins I resorted to cutting, sleeving, crimping new pins, etc. My fingers still hurt. I'll probably do PCIe cords later.... and not bother with any wires that are not visible from the window.


(ignore the messy anti-kink coil, I didn't straighten them when I took the picture.)



Powered on, running Memtest and no error so far. Those EK red top do look cool. I also got part of the LED strips working and when it's plugged into the fan control, I can adjust the overall brightness or turn it off as demo'd in this video: www.youtube.com/watch?v=E2NJooV9WJ8 Just 2 strips are wired in, got 6 more strips to wire in.

I did notice that Scythe Kaze has an oddity, a bug maybe. Mine is KM02 and I only got pump rpm connected to channel 3 (as pictured above) if I adjust the dial all the way counter-clockwise, the display changes to OFF even though it is not powering the pump.