Project Redwing (750D) - In Progress

[Brandonberg]

 

Project Redwing

By Brandonberg

 

 

 

Hi Guys, First build log here on LTT. First build log actually. Haven't actually documented a build until now. But this is something different for me, keep on reading...

 

CONTENTS:

 

Update #1 - Initial setup and case lighting

Update #2 - Windforce LED Swap & Possible build changes

Update #3 - Custom Sleeving Done

Update #4 - Change of colour scheme. Second GTX970 G1 Gaming Installed

            #4a - Installed Samsung 850 Pro

Update #5 - Painted SP120 fan rings. First round of Water Cooling parts ordered

Update #6 - Custom Res/Pump mount plate

            #6a - First lot of water cooling gear has arrived.

Update #7 - Initial CPU loop installed. Overclock & Temp results

Update #8 - More parts! New Sleeving! GPU blocks and hard tubing

Update #9 - Glass side panel. Nearing the finish!

Update #10 - Build Complete! Final photos!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CHANGE LOG:

 

- Build now planned to be Orange/Grey/Black

- Acetal Black EK Blocks /w Black fittings

- Rigid PETG tubing will be used.

- Pastel Orange Coolant.

- Glass side panel.

- Custom white LED strips.

 

- Idea for the name came from Operation Redwing, Colours inspired from nuclear mushroom cloud....*BOOOOOOOOOOM*... Explosions....)

 

 

SPECS:

 

 

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K (Acquired)

Motherboard: Asus Maximus VII Ranger (Acquired)

Memory: Corsair Dominator Platinum 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-2400Mhz C10 (Acquired)

                                Might throw in another 16GB just for shits and giggles (Planned)

Graphics Card 1: Gigabyte GTX970 G1 Gaming (Acquired)

Graphics Card 2: Gigabyte GTX970 G1 Gaming (Acquired)

CPU Cooler: Corsair H110 (Acquired)

Case: Corsair Obsidian 750D (Acquired)

Power Supply: Corsair AX860i (Acquired)

Storage 1: Samsung 850 Pro 512GB SSD (Acquired)

Storage 2: Seagate Barracuda 3TB 7200rpm HDD (Acquired)

Operating System: Windows 7 Professional x64 (Already Owned)

 

Keyboard: Corsair K95 RGB (Red CherryMX) (Acquired)

Mouse: Corsair K65 RGB (Acquired)

Headphones: Undecided, using Logitech G35 for now. (Already Owned)

Display: W2242P   |   S27B370   |   W2242T (Already Owned)

 

 

WATERCOOLING:

 

CPU BLOCK: EK Supremacy EVO Acetal/Nickel Waterblock (Acquired)

GPU BLOCK 1&2: EK Full Cover VGA Block EK-FC970 GTX WF3 Acetal/Nickel (Acquired)

GPU BACKPLATE 1&2: EK Full Cover EK-FC970 GTX WF3 Backplate (Acquired)

RESERVOIR & PUMP COMBO: EK D5 Vario X-RES 140 (Acquired)

RADIATOR 1: Alphacool NexXxoS XT45 Full Copper 360mm (TOP RAD) (Acquired)

RADIATOR 2: Alphacool NexXxoS UT60 Full Copper 240mm (BOTTOM RAD) (Acquired)

TUBING: PrimoChill 1/2in. Rigid PETG Tube (Acquired)

FITTINGS:        PrimoChill Revolver Black (Acquired)

COOLANT:       EK Ekoolant Pastel Orange (Made by Mayhem) (Acquired)

RAD FANS:  SP120 PWMs. Fan rings painted orange. (Acquired)

 

 

 

____________________________

 

Original Post \/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/ Changes and Specs Listed Above

 

 

AIM:

 

My previous system based on an i7-960 running on an X58 chipset literally went up in flames. Motherboard died and took out three graphics cards and two hard drives with it.

 

I am now building a new gaming/video editing machine from scratch based on the LGA1150 platform and plan to overclock everything. I intend to keep this an ongoing project for the time being. I am not the sort of person to spend bucket loads all at once, put it together and then just leave it. I always like to tinker, improve and expand and so that’s how I will be attempting this build.

 

I have been building and tinkering with PCs for just over 10 years. I had always been about value and functionality rather than aesthetics. Now with more time up my sleeve, and a lot more pretty components out there, I intend to go a bit further into modding, and dip my hand into the water cooling pool. I love the look of custom cable sleeving and will be sleeving cables and assembling case lighting myself from parts rather than buying premade kits.

 

The order i hope for things to go is;

 

- Initial assembly of single GPU build

- Custom Lighting & Sleeving. Cable Management and general prettiness. 

- Installation of second GPU. 

- Water cool the lot.

- Max Overclocking

 

For this build I’m using GTX970s. For me, the cost of dual 980s (in Australia) it is not worth it to me, so I’m sticking with 970s and spending the difference on water cooling. Some might argue that its a waste of money to water cool 970s. For me, the water cooling is a new experience as well as being for overclocking and quietness.

 

 

 

 

WATER COOLING:

 

 

I decided to water cool my system shortly after installing the Corsair H110. I straight away experience fitment and temperature problems with the AIO cooler. It would not seat properly onto the CPU and appeared to apply uneven pressure to the 4790K. After sorting out these issues I was generally underwhelmed with the temperatures of this cooler based on the 280mm radiator design. My unit also has noticeable pump noise most of the time which (reading online) appears to be a bit of a lottery with these coolers. My mind often wandered to dreams of a full custom loop setup. Water cooling is new to me so "Why not" I thought.  I have started planning components and hope to water cool this rig down the track. The H110 will do for the meantime.

 

Still undecided on whether to go clear or black water blocks for CPU and 2xGPUs. Either way will be going for the black back plates. I like the clean look of the black blocks, but also like the ability on the clear blocks to check inside for blockage/issues without disassembly. I won’t be running any dye in coolant at this stage. Will be going for distilled water with red PrimoChill Primoflex tubing. May also opt for a thicker 60mm rad in the bottom since radiator height isn't as much of an issue as it is in the top.

 

 

If you read this far, thanks for sticking with me. Ill try and update this thread as much as possible. I will probably be doing quite a few small mods while i wait for the bigger ones to happen so ill be sure to post all my progress as it happens. At the moment I have the system assembled and currently working on some case lighting. More to come shortly. For the mean time here is a few component & testing photos.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Samsterstorm]

Wow that looks like a super sick build! I am going to 1150 aswell from AMD and all I need to 'acquire' is my 4790k! Got the MB and a SSD already! Looks like a killer chip and I cannot wait to try it out, following the build buddy, great name........

[CydiaDash]

Sounds cool. Following this

[Brandonberg]

Update #1

 

 

Have currently installed everything in my 750D. Cable management is crap but I'm not to worried about this until a sleeve my cables.

 

Purchased 4 x 30cm 12v Red Strip LEDs for cheap along with an in-line LED controller. Also hacked up some old molex-to-3pin fan adapters to wire it all up. I am going to wire my LED's with 3 pin fan connectors. This way I can easily expand my LED's from the controller using a simple 3 pin fan splitter. I decided to re-solder all the wiring from the LEDs and controller as they weren't long enough anyway. Everything has been sleeved in black. Have the little in-line controller sitting in the below the front fans behind the front fan filter. The controller allows different brightness levels, different modes (solid, breathing, slow flash, strobe etc.) with speed adjustment. My only concern was whether I would have to set the light mode and brightness manually after each restart given that its just generic LED controller and not specifically designed for PC use. The controller has a built in 'auto memorizing' feature though so once I set up the lighting, it starts the same mode/brightness after a restart. All up only cost me about ~$25 AUD for the whole 4x30cm strip lighting setup. The only issue i encounted with the cheap LEDs was the shitty adhesive on the back that couldnt even hold its own weight when mounted to the top of the case. Applied stronger double sided tape and problem solved.

 

Some photos of my lighting assembly below. I made two strips to begin with. I later expanded expanded the setup to four strips (with a 3 pin splitter) and changed all the 3 pin connectors to black to match the sleeving. Didn't take any pictures of the black connectors though.

 

Sorry for the shitty phone photos. Ill be less lazy and pull out my DSLR for future updates.

 

 

 

 

 

 

^^ Yes even though I will eventually be water cooling, that blue LED on the graphics card cooler will be changing colour. You may have seen the teaser already in the top build banner. 

[Brandonberg]

Picked up GTA V today. Probably get to play it next week once this patch finishes downloading.

 

Also got some para cord in the mail today.

 

 

 

Also have these, 

 

 

 

 

More coming soon!

[Brandonberg]

Update #2

 

Have been looking at a lot of different builds and I have come to the same conclusion as everybody else, red and black has been done to death. I am currently looking at ways that I might be able to adjust my build to create something a little different. A few ideas I have come up with are;

 

1. Change build to a black/orange build (orange is my favourite colour anyway). Would look at orange/grey/black sleeving, Orange/White LEDs, even going a clear water-cooling tube with Mayhem pastel orange which looks pretty neat. I have even looked at painting the front panel surround on the 750D orange to give it something unique.

2. Go with the red/black build but incorporate some white lighting instead of the red in order to highlight the red parts, not overpower them. Possible pastel red coolant for loop.

3. Continue full steam ahead with red/black build.

 

Let me know if anyone has suggestions on what you think might look good or something different for me to try. As i mentioned earlier, this is a project over a few months for me so I am OK with changes.

 

Changing red components to another colour wouldn't be that hard Red LED's and sleeving and a can of spray paint for the fan rings. Those Red SP120s would probably be changed out eventually anyway as I am underwhelmed with their performance. 

 

 

 

Second GTX970 will be here next week. Will be overclocking both cards as and will test out on some GTA V. 

 

In the meantime, I changed the LED on the Windforce 3 cooler to better suit the build. It will eventually be replaced with a water block. In the mean time, I thought this was a nice touch for only about 15 mins of my time..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Brandonberg]

Update #3

 

Second GTX970 Arrived.  Will update once I unbox and install.

 

I have given the colour change some serious thought and I am thinking that a orange/black/grey build would look awesome. I have ordered a Corsair commander mini for fan and LED control. I have decided to change the LED setup to 5050 RGB strips and will control via the commander mini. I have purchased and will make up my own strips rather than pay the heavily inflated price for the corsair strips. Once I have these installed I can play around with lighting and see what colours would suit the build better.

 

Also finished my custom paracord cable sleeving. Am pretty happy with the end result. Have ordered some orange paracord. May change the red sleeved wires to orange once I see what the rest of the colours look like.  

 

At this stage, going to go for clear tubing with Mayhem pastel orange coolant for the water cooling. Black Alphacool 10/16 fittings and nickel/plexi blocks.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[DBUndeR]

A psu cover would be nice.

[Brandonberg]

A psu cover would be nice.

 

 

I have thought about a PSU cover. Dont mind the look of the PSU though. Also wouldnt have much room as i plan to install a bottom 240mm rad.

[ArcticfoxHQ]

I have thought about a PSU cover. Dont mind the look of the PSU though. Also wouldnt have much room as i plan to install a bottom 240mm rad.

In a build I saw not to long ago, he made a PSU cover in a way that made him able to use an 80mm thick 240mm rad at the front of the Fractal Arc Mini R2. You could cut this back so it just covers your PSU and eave the airflow room for the rad at the bottom. 

Check it out(almost bottom of the page): http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/274918-green-molecule-modded-fractal-design-arc-mini-r2-custom-paint-hardline-watercooling/page-2

[Brandonberg]

In a build I saw not to long ago, he made a PSU cover in a way that made him able to use an 80mm thick 240mm rad at the front of the Fractal Arc Mini R2. You could cut this back so it just covers your PSU and eave the airflow room for the rad at the bottom. 

Check it out(almost bottom of the page): http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/274918-green-molecule-modded-fractal-design-arc-mini-r2-custom-paint-hardline-watercooling/page-2

 

Arr yer nice. I have an idea for a black acrylic panel at the back between the motherboard and front fans to cover the exposed back/ssd cradles and hide the cable management a little better. Might get some extra acrylic and play around with the idea of a PSU cover. should be able to come up with something neat.

[Brandonberg]

Update #4

 

I have had a bit of a think about changes to the build and have settled on the following changes;

 

Orange/Grey/Black colour scheme.

Rigid PETG tubing for Watercooling.

Acetal Black EK Blocks /w black fittings.

Pastel Orange Coolant.

RGB LED's (Probably set to white or light orange, will play around with colours when I install them)

 

As of now i have installed the second GTX970. Did the Windforce LED mod to satisfy my own eye until I get them water-cooled. Managed to squeeze about 1529 Mhz core clock for both cards on Air although temps on the top card especially are pushing the high 70's. I put them back to stock for the time being but will have another play around once i get them water cooled. Seems i have received two different revision cards (1.0 and 1.1) but they both seem to run OK together.

 

Ordered a Samsung 850 Pro 512GB SSD to replace the Corsair SSD as boot drive. Corsair SSD will then be an upgrade for another PC.

 

Started on changing the sleeved red cabling to orange. Was going to go with cable combs but i dont like the big gaps they leave inbetween the sleeved wires. I reckon i will go for the sewed cables and i think this looks a lot cleaner. The method i used was that used by FrankNSteinPC. He seems to be the man to follow when it comes to PC cable stitching. 

 

Feedback on the cabling appreciated!

 

Photos attached,

 

^^ for preview only, cables need to be trained a little better.

 

 

^^ notice the bottom card has wider fin spacing than the top one. The top card is a Rev 1.1 and the bottom is a Rev 1.0

 

 

 

Edit: Removed Corsair Commander Mini - Sending Back.

 

[Brandonberg]

Why paracord?

 

I don't mind the look of Paracord and it is easier to source locally. Cant find any decent PET sleeving locally (within Aus) that is actually a tight braid. I used some of the PET sleeving from TechFlex but the braid is too broad and you can see the black wires through some of the lighter colours. I have looked at some other sleeving internationally but every source I find seems to be either not the right colours, or sold out with no ETA. 

[X_Rated_Box]

nice!

[X_Rated_Box]

Could you do a detailed Thread about how to change the LED on the Winforce cards?

I mean smth. like what led to buy what tools to get and so on

[JBIZZL3Y]

Update #1

 

 

Have currently installed everything in my 750D. Cable management is crap but I'm not to worried about this until a sleeve my cables.

 

Purchased 4 x 30cm 12v Red Strip LEDs for cheap along with an in-line LED controller. Also hacked up some old molex-to-3pin fan adapters to wire it all up. I am going to wire my LED's with 3 pin fan connectors. This way I can easily expand my LED's from the controller using a simple 3 pin fan splitter. I decided to re-solder all the wiring from the LEDs and controller as they weren't long enough anyway. Everything has been sleeved in black. Have the little in-line controller sitting in the below the front fans behind the front fan filter. The controller allows different brightness levels, different modes (solid, breathing, slow flash, strobe etc.) with speed adjustment. My only concern was whether I would have to set the light mode and brightness manually after each restart given that its just generic LED controller and not specifically designed for PC use. The controller has a built in 'auto memorizing' feature though so once I set up the lighting, it starts the same mode/brightness after a restart. All up only cost me about ~$25 AUD for the whole 4x30cm strip lighting setup. The only issue i encounted with the cheap LEDs was the shitty adhesive on the back that couldnt even hold its own weight when mounted to the top of the case. Applied stronger double sided tape and problem solved.

 

Some photos of my lighting assembly below. I made two strips to begin with. I later expanded expanded the setup to four strips (with a 3 pin splitter) and changed all the 3 pin connectors to black to match the sleeving. Didn't take any pictures of the black connectors though.

 

Sorry for the shitty phone photos. Ill be less lazy and pull out my DSLR for future updates.

 

2015-03-23 08.59.55.jpg

 

2015-03-23 10.15.35.jpg

 

2015-03-23 10.47.12.jpg

 

2015-03-23 10.26.05.jpg

 

2015-03-23 11.58.08.jpg

 

^^ Yes even though I will eventually be water cooling, that blue LED on the graphics card cooler will be changing colour. You may have seen the teaser already in the top build banner. 

 

love this build, really looking forward to seeing the water cooling. The custom sleeving looks awesome i'd love to have a rig like this one day. i shall be following along! On an unrelated note, i've had those facom cutters now for about 9 years and still use them daily at work.. Facom are great haha!

[Brandonberg]

love this build, really looking forward to seeing the water cooling. The custom sleeving looks awesome i'd love to have a rig like this one day. i shall be following along! On an unrelated note, i've had those facom cutters now for about 9 years and still use them daily at work.. Facom are great haha!

 

Thanks for the kind words.

 

My side cutters are Sidchrome (Australian brand of very high quality tools), but given how similar they look to Facom I can only imagine that Sidchrome are using rebranded cutters. By far the best cutters I use. I rarely buy cheap tools anymore.

[Brandonberg]

Could you do a detailed Thread about how to change the LED on the Winforce cards?

I mean smth. like what led to buy what tools to get and so on

 

There is a thread by No Hands 55 on Overclock.net which is exactly what you are looking for. He also has links to the SMD LED's which he used as a replacement.

 

>>>> Gigabyte G1 Gaming GeForce GTX 960 / 970 / 980 LED Swap - Overclock.Net <<<<

 

I also found this youtube video of another OCN member who followed the guide and made a video on it,

 

[X_Rated_Box]

There is a thread by No Hands 55 on Overclock.net which is exactly what you are looking for. He also has links to the SMD LED's which he used as a replacement.

 

>>>> Gigabyte G1 Gaming GeForce GTX 960 / 970 / 980 LED Swap - Overclock.Net <<<<

 

I also found this youtube video of another OCN member who followed the guide and made a video on it,

 

I knew the thread but not the video thanks man the blue´is really annoying when you want a b&w build

[Brandonberg]

Minor update,

 

I have returned the Corsair Commander Mini. I was not very impressed with its performance given it's price. I had the fans and LED's running from it but there is a couple of firmware bugs. The fan control wasn't easy to setup. I would set custom curves which once applied didn't seem to work all the time. The LED's would flicker every 10-15 seconds if i have custom fan curves enabled. Very annoying. This issue has been acknowledged by Corsair but they are yet to fix it... maybe they can't? I am also unable to turn off the fans or set a fan curve to zero rpm which i can do in other programs. Disappointing because i have had only positive experiences with Corsair previously. I think i will go for a simple PWM hub for fan control. Still working on lighting options.

 

Hope to be ordering some water cooling components this week! I will be getting most of the components from PCCG in Aus but for the PrimoChill PETG and fittings i will be ordering direct from their website. 

 

Received this in the mail. Installed it and what can i say, its awesome! I went for the 512GB Model.

 

 

 

[Brandonberg]

Update #5

 

I have order my first round of water cooling gear. Enough for a full CPU Loop. I have ordered some PrimoChill Primoflex Advanced LRT Tubing and some EK barb fittings until i get my PrimoChill PETG tubing sorted. I had a store credit with a local PC store after returning my Corsair Commander Mini so i purchased the GPU Back plates in advance (purchasing most other components from PCCG).

 

I am happy with my Paracord sleeving for now but have got a small amount of Shakmods PET sleeving on the way from the UK to have a look at. 

 

I have also painted my first lot of fan rings to test out colors. Crappy phone picture incoming. They are drying now after 3 coats of plastic primer and 3 coats of "Bright Delight" orange. Have ordered the rest of my SP120's and will paint the rings once i get them.

 

 

 

WATERCOOLING:

 

CPU BLOCK: EK Supremacy EVO Acetal/Nickel Waterblock (Ordered)

GPU BLOCK 1&2: EK Full Cover VGA Block EK-FC970 GTX WF3 Acetal/Nickel (Planned)

GPU BACKPLATE 1&2: EK Full Cover EK-FC970 GTX WF3 Backplate (Ordered)

RESERVOIR & PUMP COMBO: EK D5 Vario X-RES 140 (Ordered)

RADIATOR 1: Alphacool NexXxoS XT45 Full Copper 360mm (TOP RAD) (Ordered)

RADIATOR 2: Alphacool NexXxoS XT45 Full Copper 240mm (BOTTOM RAD) (Planned)

TUBING: PrimoChill 1/2in. Rigid PETG Tube (Planned)

FITTINGS:        PrimoChill Revolver Black (Planned)

COOLANT:       EK Ekoolant Pastel Orange (Made by Mayhem) (Ordered)

RAD FANS:  Probably SP120 PWMs. Fan rings painted orange. (Ordered)

 

 

[Brandonberg]

Update #6

 

I am in the process of making a black Perspex (acrylic) plate to cover up the SSD drive cages and also serve as a platform to mount my reservoir/pump combo to. It also allows me to manage my cables better and provide more room to hide them. The gap at the bottom is to allow cable management and will be hidden by the 240mm rad and fans. I did not want to drill too many holes in the case and wanted to have as cleaner look as possible so i used a couple of predrilled holes with standoffs, and standoffs mounted on the SSD cages to mount the acrylic. Still needs to be cleaned up a bit but im happy with it so far.

 

Also finished a few fan rings. I think they have turned out alright. I will have to remove those tacky Corsair stickers.

 

 

 

 

[Brandonberg]

Update #6a

 

These came this morning. I am going to assemble a basic loop for the time being to try out some design ideas while i get around to order my PETG gear and GPU blocks.

 

 

 

Test fitting res/pump

 

[Brandonberg]

Update #7

 

First round of water cooling has been installed. I love the look of the Pastel Orange coolant. Apparently the EK Ekoolant Pastel range is manufactured by Mayhems which is pretty awesome.

 

I assembled and leak tested all components! No leaks.. Yay! Then thought it would play around with my CPU overclock. 4.7Ghz seems to be the max i can really get out of this chip on just the multiplier which i am more than happy with (7 is my lucky number anyway ). I managed to achieve over 12h stable in AIDA64 with 4.7Ghz @ 1.3v. If i pushed the chip to 48x at 1.3v it would POST but not boot into windows. It would boot into windows at 48x @ 1.35v but wouldn't pass stability testing. I could really play around with voltages a bit more or even tweak my BCLK frequency, but i'm happy with my 4.7 at this stage. 

 

Load temps were good and hovered around the 55-60C range during the whole test I was amazed with idle temperatures. With ambient room temperature about 19 degrees, my H110 wouldnt achieve any better than about 30C at idle. This new loop was getting down to the mid-teens which was crazy. Screenshots or it never happened!

 

As this is an ongoing project, i am still happy doing a little bit at a time. I have ordered my PrimoChill PETG tubing and fittings from the US. GPU blocks to follow but i can source them locally.

 

I am also going to paint my custom pump mount acrylic matte black as gloss throws too much light around the case.

 

More to come soon!

 

 

Just hit the 12h mark.

 

IDLE TEMPS

[Brandonberg]

If you decide to get a psu cover try one from coldzero.eu

 

I have been thinking of a few different designs. I'm going to have a bottom 240mm radiator so have to be able to have a cutout for that. I may end up making my own custom fit cover.