[Build Log] Hex Gear R40 - MonoChromatico, Custom Hardline tubing + Titan X SLi [COMPLETED]

[NoobCase]

Ever since I saw the first articles on the R40 from Hex Gear I've wanted to build in it. Just finishing Frost Titan (posted on another site - shoot me a pm if you'd like a link) I really had no need for an upgrade or a new build, but the urge got too strong when I found a cheapish 2nd Titan X, that had only been running for 3 months at stock and no watercooling.

 

This Time I wanted a more industrial and perhaps stealthier look, so I will be using fittings instead of bendning the hardline tubing. New clear blocks for GPUs and CPU is also ordered - cause they look a lot more sexy!

 

Should save me some time as well as I'm hard pressed for spare time with a newborn (10 weeks) and a 4 year old who wants dad to build Lego all the time

 

But progress on this build may be pretty slow.

 

Anywyas I present to you: MonoChromatico! As the name implies it wil be a black/grey/white colour scheme.

 

Partslist (I wil be re-using a lot of the parts from Frost Titan): 

 

Asus Gryphon Z97 [Armor Edition]

Intel I7-4790K 

16 GB Kingston hyperX Beast 

Samsung EVO 500 GB SSD

Samsung EVO 250 GB SSD

EVGA Titan X (x2)

Hex Gear R40

Icemodz Custom PSU Cables

Noctua NF-F12 x 5 (won't be doing anything to them as they will be hidden in the top and bottom compartments)

Seasonic Platninum 1000W PSU

 

WC Parts:

Rads, blocks, backplates and Pump/Res combo + Dual Parallel Link from EKWB

Shitload of Bitspower fittings

 

First things first - Assembly of the R40. I used quite a bit longer than the 60 mins estimated....

 

Box containing the Case + EK Mount and RmATX accent pack (ended up not using it)

 

Lotsa good stuf

 

More or less half way

 

 

 

 

Getting closer:

 

Fitted PSU and MB - I need to measure the exact lenghts for my Icemodz order.

 

 

Side Panel on (Tried it with the nuts on the outside - not liking that will use the hex screws on the outside insted. And I only got 7 nuts with the case and need 8 - hopefully Hex Gear will ship me a new one)

 

 

Up next:

 

Spray painting the Gryphon Armor and Chip Heatsink and the SATA connectors on the MB white.

I had originally intended to cover the PSU with a custom cover made by Hex Gear, but they couldn't come up with a design that would finish of some of the edges in a pleasing manner. So following their advice, I went with custom cables. I've thought of painting the PSU, but frankly it looks pretty good and the colours fit the coulor scheme spot on.

 

Measuring the cables lenghts needed as mentioned earlier.

 

Waiting for most of the WC parts to arrive...

[hearthofsin]

following this!

[Watercooler970]

That case looks awesome! Are you going with hardline tubing?

[NoobCase]

oh yes  

[NoobCase]

Update:

 

Got the lenghts of the cables measured last night as well as painted the armor and some of the motherboard and chipset heatsink - I even managed to squeeze in a coat more this morning. Pictures are from the first 2 or 3 coats.

 

 

 

 

Now i just need to order the custom cables... and boy.. The Seasonic PSU cables are... well let's just call them proprietary at best... PCI-E are double 8/6 coming from a 12pin. the Motherboard 24 pin.... well I didn't even count the pins at the PSU side... it's a 2 part connector.... Hope Icemodz can make them look good...

 

 

 

And a bit disappointed with the sleeving that PSU comes with... its really expensive.. at least use all black wires!

 

And Hex-Gear came throug. I received the screws and nuts I needed... the day after I wrote them.. Thank you p0Pe!  

 

That is proper costumer service that is.

[p0Pe]

Glad to be of assistance Balzy move of you to paint the motherboard:D I hope it works out alright!

 

And those are some strange cables indeed. The last few PSU´s I have sleeved have been corsair hx1000i´s, and they are quite easy. I will be getting the RM1000i for the ROG build, and that should be a bit harder, but lets see!

 

Oh, and two titan x´s ? You think you have enough GPU power in this thing?

[NoobCase]

Glad to be of assistance Balzy move of you to paint the motherboard:D I hope it works out alright!

 

And those are some strange cables indeed. The last few PSU´s I have sleeved have been corsair hx1000i´s, and they are quite easy. I will be getting the RM1000i for the ROG build, and that should be a bit harder, but lets see!

 

Oh, and two titan x´s ? You think you have enough GPU power in this thing?

 

Only painting the connectors... hope no paint got into them... Got to see if I can cover up the area around the CPU connector and get that painted as well.. it is the most visible of the connectors I think.

 

I've sent Icemodz a mail asking if they think they can do proper sleeving on it. They do have Seasonic listed but we'll wait and see. If not I may have to ask to have that PSU cover made... Now that I have the Case I can at least do some sort of card board mock ups if needed.

 

Regarding GPU power... one can never get enough but honestly I could prolly make do with the old 960. But driving 7860 x 1440 does require a bit of horsepower. Hairworks NEEDs to be on! (j/k)

[NoobCase]

Small Update!

 

Icemodz confirmed that he should have no problems making the Custom Cables for the Seasonic... all is good.. Until I start drilling wholes...  

[p0Pe]

Only painting the connectors... hope no paint got into them... Got to see if I can cover up the area around the CPU connector and get that painted as well.. it is the most visible of the connectors I think.

 

I've sent Icemodz a mail asking if they think they can do proper sleeving on it. They do have Seasonic listed but we'll wait and see. If not I may have to ask to have that PSU cover made... Now that I have the Case I can at least do some sort of card board mock ups if needed.

 

Regarding GPU power... one can never get enough but honestly I could prolly make do with the old 960. But driving 7860 x 1440 does require a bit of horsepower. Hairworks NEEDs to be on! (j/k)

 

Haha yeah okay.. I am still only running dual 24" @ 1920x1200... I should really invest in better screens.

 

Right now I am looking into getting a 34" widescreen just because I really, really like the looks of them. But I would also like to have good colors, 144 hz and g sync... Can´t have it all I guess.

[Montymole]

looking good dude I am subbed to this 

[NoobCase]

Haha yeah okay.. I am still only running dual 24" @ 1920x1200... I should really invest in better screens.

 

Right now I am looking into getting a 34" widescreen just because I really, really like the looks of them. But I would also like to have good colors, 144 hz and g sync... Can´t have it all I guess.

i may not remember correctly, but aren'til there 1 or 2 options out there for 144 Hz IPS g sync panels? rather newly released...

anyways done painting the motherboard. didn't turn out perfect but good enough. will post pictures later when kids are asleep

[NoobCase]

Guess it wasn't only the kids who fell asleep.

 

Got the Motherboard put back together and painted the cover plates for the PCI-E slots. No pictures of them, but last coat (hopefully) was applied last night.

 

here's the pictures of the assembled motherboard. As mentioned not completely perfect, but it will do.

 

 

And got the ROG SLI bridge modded. Took it apart and used grid 220 sand paper. Will give it a frosted white look instead of the stock red.

 

 

That is about all I can do until I get the rest of the watercooling bits and bobs. Well.. I'm going to be testing the motherboard to see if I broke anything....

 

Also ordered the custom PSU cables from icemodz.com. Mundi from icemodz was extremely helpful as some of the Seasonic cables are a bit wierd. (Thanks for all the help Mundi!) 

 

The rather annoying cables:

24pin

Dual PCI-E

 

And here's the intended "design" - I got mad paint skillz...

 

[NoobCase]

Smallish update

 

First delivery from Caseking.de arrived.. Now I can get started with the WC part of the build... Well most of it. There's a few parts missing like titan EKWB backplate.

[NoobCase]

The good stuff arrived from CaseKing.de. To my dismay I ordered the wrong straight fittings.... completely my fault, so had to put in an order for 30 of the correct ones. And Pro-Tip when handling the black sparkle fittings... WEAR GLOVES.. they pick up fingerprints and shit will stay if not removed straigh away... So I can only send back 29....

 

 

And then a small teaser. 

 

 

That's my drain-port solution. Koolance quick connects. I'm going to drill a whole to have the male part come out of the case. Should make it very easy to drain the system. All I should have to do is to tip the case

 

 

Other than that all I had time to do to night was testing if the motherboard worked. All other components have been checked. Motherboard is working fine. The obeservant may notice a rather high idle temp on the CPU - I didn't seat the cooler correctly nor applied new thermal paste. Just needed to know if it would boot.

 

 

 

Now that I have most of the stuff I need the next updates should contain:

 

1. Putting the GPU block and Backplate on the first Titan X (Still waiting on one backplate. It may ship today)

2. Installing the CPU back plate on the motherboard

3. Paint the EK 360 Rad white.

4. I could drill the whole for the Koolance Quick Connect, but I'd rather wait as the position may change when I make the loop.

 

[NoobCase]

Got the GPU block put onto the Titan X as well as the Dual Parallel brigde from EKWB. Forgot that my current backplate is actually on the installed Titan X in Frost Titan... not easily removed and would render me without my main rig...

 

 

and trying out the ROG SLi bridge on for size... Should fit nicely with the color scheme.

 

CPU backplate installed and the painted dust covers installed on the motherboard.

 

 

More or less done painting the EKWB rad. Up to 5 coats now... a freaking moth flew in and hit the rad whilst doing the 3rd coard... Luckily it is on the side that won't be visible.. and looks like I will be able to cover it with further coats.

 

1st coat

 

2nd coat

 

3rd. coat and moth collision.... (Had lightning issues there... not much one can do with no photography skills and a mobile phone...)

 

 

I'll be draining my current main rig and taking out the parts I need from there. (CPU, GPU, SSD's, Lighting, 1 240 EK PE rad, Pump/res - got a bigger tube for the res and fan y splitters and extensions)

 

Then I should finally be able to start doing the hard line loop. The custom cables have been delayed a bit. Shipped my E22 clear Stealth Cable Combs to Icemodz for him to use, as those kinds aren't something he normally uses. So he won't be able to start sleeving until he receives those.. should only be 2-4 work days unless the Icelandic customs decide to keep em. But awesome that we could arrange it like this instead.

[Necrodead]

Oohhhh... dat moth. You weren't painting at night were you? I learned my lesson there, either sit in the dark or have bugs attack your paint. Look forward to seeing the final product!

[NoobCase]

Oohhhh... dat moth. You weren't painting at night were you? I learned my lesson there, either sit in the dark or have bugs attack your paint. Look forward to seeing the final product!

late evening, sun was almost down had a 200w led work light on....

 

draining the old system right now to get the parts that i'm going to reuse.

[NoobCase]

Tonight was more or less all about draining Frost Titan and removing all the parts. Not much to say, but took a good amount of pictures in the process... The old drain was a freaking b**** to drain... but I managed..

 

The new correct fittings arrived today, so all I need to complete the build is the EKWB backplate.

 

Test fitted the 240 Rad at the top as well as installed the CPU and CPU block. Also put the long res tube on the combo unit.

 

 

Not sure if i will get much done tonight. Perhaps tidy up the office.. everything is where i left it last night  

[NoobCase]

As stated, not much progress, tidied up half the desk and installed a few of the components to start planning the loop. Think I may have it settled now. Unfortunately it doesn't seem like much is lining up so I may have to go get some of those 2 and 3 way rotatable angled fittings - just got no idea what I have to get.. perhaps someone knows? (They have to be bitfenix Black chrome..)

 

Here's the loop I'm planning. 

 

[Necrodead]

You'll either need one of these https://www.dazmode.com/store/product/dual_ig1_4_penta_rotary_extender_45-180_degree_black_sparkle/

and/or a few tight 90 fittings I think. From the VGA to the rad there i'm guessing is your problem?

[p0Pe]

Looks awesome man! You will get a bit extra space for the pump if you mount it like this: http://www.hex-gear.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Mounting_plates02.jpg

 

I have no idea why EK instructs people in mounting it like this. It seems more logical for me to mount it the way in the picture above.

[NoobCase]

You'll either need one of these https://www.dazmode.com/store/product/dual_ig1_4_penta_rotary_extender_45-180_degree_black_sparkle/

and/or a few tight 90 fittings I think. From the VGA to the rad there i'm guessing is your problem?

 

Thanks. I may have to resort to something like that. But decided to bend the tube instead.. If i'll be able to make such tight bends...

 

 

Looks awesome man! You will get a bit extra space for the pump if you mount it like this: http://www.hex-gear.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Mounting_plates02.jpg

 

I have no idea why EK instructs people in mounting it like this. It seems more logical for me to mount it the way in the picture above.

 

Cheers mate. Switched it around. Thank god for the pump back plate that comes with the case... makes that mounting 100% easier... litterally. Not sure I would be able to if I had to mount it directly to a case back plate..

[NoobCase]

And plans change. It is wonderful. Ran into clearing issues, so here's the new loop. 

 

 

Still running into clearing issues with the ram, but hoping a 90 degree fitting not as high as the rotatable ones will alleviate that. The other fittings marked with the red boxes will also be replaced by the same fittings as it will make the alignment a small bit better.

 

And again thanks to p0pe for the small tips regarding the pump mount and power button placement. I think I'll have to try sleeving the wires from the pump now though. As I won't be able to hide them through the routing whole in the mounting plate anymore. and shrink wrap is good for small cover ups.. not for something that will be this sightly

 

Still waiting on the last backplate from Caseking.de. Hopefully it will ship this week. (Hurry up....I really wan't to harvest the power of 2 GPUs before they aren't top of the line anymore.. ) Other than that I painted a corsair AF120 grey to balance out the grey from the PSU, but alas, I wasn't really careful when removing the painters tape from the wires which resulted in me pulling one of them off the soder points... whoopsie... good thing I have another lying around

 

I hope I'll get to start doing the loop late this week. But so far all work as been done when I could sneak a couple of hours work in late nights... or 5 mins to do a new coats of paint here and there Family life doesn't always leave room for hours on end pc building.

 

But holy balls.. I'm head over heals about those Black sparkle / Shiny black fittings from Bitspower... they look really really nice... and they are heavy as s*** to a point where I actually worry putting to many on one run of tubing may cause it to sack and causing leaks... Luckily the EKWB acrylic tubing and the BP fittings fit snugly together and was pretty impressed with the force I had to use to pull out a tube when first assembled. I feel pretty confident the leakage will be minimal... Even if I had a bad dream about it the other night...

[NoobCase]

And very small update.

 

Made my drainport. The extender and smaller fitting is a couple of mm too long so I'm gonna be using a piece of acrylic tubing instead. Like the look of the extender though.

 

 

Backplate and replacement fittings arrived yesterday hence I'll be starting on the loop as soon as I get some time... and cleaned up the office.. I have everything all over the place.. again.

[NoobCase]

Finally got the time to start on the loop. All parts has arrived except the PSU cables from Icemodz, but those are in the mail and should be here at the end of the week.

 

The tubing begins!

 

 

 

Drain port done:

 

Inlet for the pump run: (I may have to redo the horizontal piece as it seems to be 1-2 mm too short - will be easier to see when the loop is full)

 

Outlet from CPU to 360 Rad - the longest of the tubes in the build - comes in at around 27 cms:

 

To night I should hopefully get time to make some progress on the rest of the bends... I may take the easy way out with the run from the top 240 rad to the GPU as I don't think that run will be able to take the weight of 2 90 degree fittings and I need to bend that piece in order for it to even fit. Thinking it wil be a straight run directly from the rad, a 90 degree bend into to fitting on the GPU bridge.