Watercooled Air 540, Eyefinity

[csmith1991]

So I'm finally building myself a computer. My last one was "finished" back in 2008, with the only two parts moving on over are a 120GB 840 Pro, DVD Drive (long enough to install Windows) and a WiFi card.

 

I'll put an entire parts list in the second post (this way you can avoid spoilers if for whatever reason that's your thing), and reserve the first post for updating pictures.

 

Final Gallery - Build Complete:

[csmith1991]

Parts list:

CPU: Intel Core i7-4770K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor (Purchased For $212)

Motherboard: Gigabyte G1.SNIPER 5 EATX LGA1150 Motherboard (Purchased For $241)

Memory: G.Skill Sniper Gaming Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory (Purchased For $145)

Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (Purchased For $57)

Storage: Samsung 840 Pro Series 128GB 2.5" SSD (From old computer)

Case: Corsair Air 540 ATX Desktop Case (Purchased For $100)

Power Supply: EVGA 850W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply (Purchased For $130)

Monitor: 3x Dell P2214H 60Hz 21.5" Monitor (Purchased For $164 ea)

Case Fan: 3x Corsair Air Series SP120 Quiet Edition (2-Pack) 37.9 CFM 120mm Fans (Purchased For $25 ea)

Mouse: Logitech G602 Wireless Optical Mouse (Gift)

Other: VisionTek CryoVenom R9 290 (Purchased For $550)

Other: Deluxe Triple Monitor Stand Free Standing Supports up to 3 28" (002-0020) (Purchased For $105)

Other: Swiftech MCP655™ 12v Water Pump w/ Speed Control and 3/8" Conversion Kit (317 GPH) (Purchased For $105)

Other: 2x Monsoon Free Center Compression Fitting - 3/8"ID x 1/2"OD - Modders 6 Pack Matte Black (FCC-3812-6P-MB) (Purchased For $72)

Other: Evercool ARMOR Dual 5.25" Drive Bay to Triple 3.5" HDD Cooling Box (HD-AR-R-BK) (Purchased For $25)

Other: 3/8" ID - (1/2"OD) PVC Clear Tubing (Purchased For $2)

Other: Black Ice GT Stealth 360 Radiator - Black (Purchased For $70)

Other: Black Ice GT Stealth 240 Radiator - Black (Purchased For $61)

Other: Swiftech MCRES Micro Rev. 2 Small Form Factor / High-Flow Reservoir (1/2" ID & 3/8" ID) (Purchased For $26)

Other: IandH Silver KillCoils - Antimicrobial .999 Fine Silver Tubing / Reservoir Strip (Purchased For $7)

Other: 2x Monsoon 1/2" OD Hardline Tube - 4x 24" Pack - Clear (ATH-3812-4-CL) (Purchased For $32)

Other: EK Supremacy Universal CPU Liquid Cooling Block - Clean Acetal (EK-Supremacy Clean CSQ - Acetal) (Purchased For $73)

Other: 2x Koolance QD3 Quick Disconnect No-Spill Coupling, Female Panel Barb for ID 10mm (3/8in) (QD3-F10-P) (Purchased For $28)

Other: Koolance QD3 Quick Disconnect No-Spill Coupling, Male Barb for ID 10mm (3/8in) (QD3-M10) (Purchased For $12)

Other: All Power America 4 Piece Heat Gun Kit (APT2005) (Purchased For $23)

Build Log:

I'll use this space to point to posts when I make updates so it'll hopefully be easier to follow any discussion.

 

Update: 10 Mar 2014 - Original post, case mods (removed hard drive cages and altered front fan grill.

Update: 8 Apr 2014 - Decided against modifying the top at this time. I'll need to purchase the radiators first to check for clearance issues with a E-ATX mobo (this changed since last time, parts list is updated). Pictures coming later tonight.

Update: 27 Apr 2014 - Against my better judgement, I've purchased the remaining parts today. I've updated the parts list to reflect my purchases, and prices for a total of approximately $2643 (w/ shipping + tax)

Update: 6 May 2014 - All parts are here, and assembly is taking place. Radiators have a tight-ish fit, but looks like everything is going to work. Anticipating to finish it this weekend.

Update: 7 May 2014 - Snag! Tubing isn't the right size. What do? I've contacted FrozeCPU for further instructions, but awaiting a response. Hopefully this doesn't add to much time.

Update: 9 May 2014 - ALMOST DONE! Performing leak test right now.

Gallery Archive:

Gallery 1 - Case mods

Gallery 2 - A touch of color

Gallery 3 - The All Important Leak Test!

[csmith1991]

So, I've come far enough along in this build that I feel its time for a story. The reason for this build.

I haven't been using a desktop in about a year (tragedy, I know). I've been stuck on my laptop. The obvious question is, "What happened to your old computer?" This is the question I intend to answer.

It was a nice summer day, so I rode my bike to work. Calm day at work... no complaints. Wife had to take our daughter (first, and only child) to get her first set of shots. Everything was going A-OK. Get home, and my daughter is fast asleep. Wife said, doctor indicated that'd probably happen, and to let her sleep as long as possible. She was heading on her way out though to run some errand. I let my daughter sleep as instructed, and decided to play some video game. Got myself a drink, placed it on my desk. Started SC2 I believe it was. That's about as far as I got.

Now to understand this next, and pretty critical part, you need to know one thing about my daughter. She never had cried up to this point. When she was born, doctors had to poke her till she did cry to help open her airway. She just didn't do it for whatever reason (for the most part, she's still this way).

 

So, my little girl woke up, having just had her first set of shots, and screamed bloody murder. Obviously there was a ferret attacking her in her crib, so I needed to go kill it (something that was in the news at the time), so I whipped out of my chair, and rushed over to her. I made it about 6 steps out of the, realistically speaking here, 10 steps to her crib, when I heard crackle crackle pop pop. It was my drink on that desk. It fell over, on to the computer. I let it stay there, dying. I got my daughter, and realized no ferrets were attacking her, picked her up, she calmed down a bit, enough for me to go rip the power cord out from the wall. The damage was already done.

 

I tried salvaging the computer. I really did. I didn't know at the time to use alcohol, so inevitably, any chance of its survival I ruined. =( I managed to get the SSD (a 120GB 840 Pro), a blu-ray player, and a 7770 Vapor-X video card. I at some point sold that video card for $80, and still have the bluray player just in case I need it. The 840 is in the build here today.

 

So, liquid clearly messed with my computer once before, why decide to cool a computer with it? Well, to be honest, I'm in a much better financial position now (wife and I both graduate college last year), and I can afford it. I'm not the kinda person to let one unfortunate mistake ruin something possibly fun from me. If I could do it all over again, it'd probably end up exactly the same way, that ferret needed to die.

[Excon]

I'm hoping for some good pictures

[CartertheCOCguy]

cool:) but pm me the list of parts

[Paulandpedro]

Looks cool. I am a big fan of that case.

[dragosudeki]

Looking pretty nice! Are you going to put some sort of filters on those fans though?  :huh:

[csmith1991]

The way the air is moving I'd need filters on the other side of the radiator, wouldn't I?

[Darkiiss]

I am looking forward to see this build become somewhat of a spectacle.

[csmith1991]

Update: 8 Apr 2014 -

 

Added some paint to the build. Also I've switched some parts that'll be used in the build, and deciding on a couple others, mainly due to price changes.

I've got the Cryovenom R9 290 in hand now. Factory overclocked settings: GPU: 1150 MHz, Memory: 1475 HMz, we'll see if that's what I actually get.

 

Paint will need touched up in a couple spots, but I'm pretty happy with it. I used Rust-Oleum Painter's Touch Satin Green Apple spray paint.

[csmith1991]

Update: 27 Apr 2014 -

 

Parts ordered, and on the way (parts list updated with what was purchased). This build is no longer on hold. =D

[bbqsauce]

Don't know if its the lighting but the green seems to be a tinyyy shade off from the mobo color. Still, really good looking!

[steffen_anywhere]

This is gunna be gud...

Nobody has posted this yet I was rather surprised. That case is amazing tho and I like green.

[csmith1991]

Don't know if its the lighting but the green seems to be a tinyyy shade off from the mobo color. Still, really good looking!

 

Its a tinyyy shade off in any lighting. The paint is more of a pastel color, whereas the mobo is more vibrant. It works well together though. I'll take time for decent pictures when its done. 

[csmith1991]

It's coming.

[csmith1991]

Hit a snag.  Monsoon Cooling screwed up it'd seem. The tubing is supposed to be 1/2" OD, but clearly these tubes aren't such. This happened on all 8 that I bought. The boxes were correctly labeled, so I don't blame FrozenCPU at all.

 

[Brandonsr]

Hit a snag.  Monsoon Cooling screwed up it'd seem. The tubing is supposed to be 1/2" OD, but clearly these tubes aren't such. This happened on all 8 that I bought. The boxes were correctly labeled, so I don't blame FrozenCPU at all.

 

It's never fun to start a build only to find out something wont work/needs to be changed.

 

But I'm excited to see this build log. I just bought a Carbide 540 case and currently waiting on a few more parts so I can finish.

[csmith1991]

FrozenCPU.com wouldn't accept a return for store credit or anything. Terrible way to handle a misunderstanding. That said, I went by to Micro Center and picked up some PrimoChill LRT tubing (sorry for all those hoping for a rigid acrylic build, I'm clearly not experienced enough). I got it all assembled in about an hour and have now been running a leak test for an hour or so. All bubbles have been bled. The pump runs quieter than the AC in my house. Extremely excited to see how this turns out!

Edit:

Before I get asked, yes, I checked each part (gpu aside) for functionality on air cooling before skipping to the loop The video card I'm going to have to trust it was inspected first though, because I don't trust running a 290 without some sort of cooling.

[csmith1991]

The build is done! Pictures updated =D Very excited to have it up in running.

Have fun guys, I've got a years worth of games to catch up on.