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[Finished] DCCC-D, 800D, SLI

Squashie

DCCC-D Colors WEB.jpg

 

 

Hi there:)

 

Wanted to share my build and experiences with Universal GPU cooling. Build is complete when i make this log, so this will be a cut-down version of the full build log found on another site;)

 

 

Hardware:

ASRock Z77 Extreme 3   AsRock Z97 OC Formula

2x MSI GTX 670 OC PE, boost: 1228MHz, memory 3330MHz

i5 3570k - 4.4 GHz - 1.3v   2X SLI ASUS GTX 980ti ref

Kingston HyperX Beast 4x 8Gb - 2133MHz - 11, 13, 13, 30





Storage/optical:

Samsung 840 PRO, 256 Gb

 

Samsung 850 PRO, 256 Gb


WesternDigital Red 2TB

 

Samsung HD502IJ, 500 Gb

Asus DVD





Cooling:

 

Air:

Fancontroll - Lamptron CW611

3x Corsair SP120

Corsair AF120

Corsair AF140

Lian-Li 5.25 120mm fan module

Corsair 800D stock fans 3x 140mm





Water:

CPU - EK Supremacy

GPU - 2x EK-FC TitanX

Radiator - EK-Coolstream RAD XT360

Radiator - EK 140mm

 

Radiator - EK 140mm

Pump - Laing DDC-1T plus

Reservoir - EK RES X3

Tubing - Durelene

 

Pipes - Barrow


Nipples - Barrow/Bitspower







PSU - Corsair TX750 Corsair HX1000i

Cabinet - Corsair 800D

Monitor - 3x BenQ, 24" LED, 60Hz, 1x 16:10 ascessory

Sound - Steinberg UR22, USB Audio interface

Keyboard - Logitech G510 Corsair K95rgb

Mouse - Razer Ouroboros  Razer Diamondback

Wheels/Pedals - Logitech Drivingforce GT

Edited by Squashie
updated hardware
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I will try to keep as much as possible inside the case black. The only color will be the coolant. This way i can change color of coolant without it clashing with the rest of the build. I also have green LEDs, green cathode and UV cathodes but will not use these. Decided to go with white light only, dont want a discotheque inside my comp ;)

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Presentation / OC

First installation of hardware, the camera is cheap so the pics isnt great, will borrow a good camera for the final pics.

post-34256-0-32685000-1379232932_thumb.j

My main board is, as stated above, a Z77 card from ASRock. The Extreme 3 is the little brother in this series, but it got everything i need, chose to spend my cash other-ways, not that i had foreseen how deep into this i was going to get when i did my first little upgrades on my previous PC. xD

CPU run prime95 / 12hrs stable 4.4GHz at 1.3v and thats plenty power for me. This voltage should also insure good longevity for my chip.

The VGAs come from MSI and are fairy fit without any OC, only getting small OC so i run stock settings. What i didnt consider  when i bought them, was the possibility for watercooling. The MSI GTX 670 is not a reference card so a full block was not available...

...or so i thought, until i found this:
http://www.liquidextasy.de/

This is the only manufacturer of full-blocks i have found for my cards. Its a company in Germany and they make blocks when ordered. This leads to long delivery times. I think they start producing new batches every 14 days. So with the long delivery time, international shipping, price and 2x because of SLI, i chose to go with universal GPU blocks from EK instead. These will most likely be usable on future upgrades aswell.

The PSU is, along with a 500Gb hard drive, the only things left from my previous PC.

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That looks sexy :o

phanteks enthoo pro | intel i5 4690k | noctua nh-d14 | msi z97 gaming 5 | 16gb crucial ballistix tactical | msi gtx970 4G OC  | adata sp900

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Pump:

I chose to place my pump in the bottom of the cabinet for several reasons but more on this later. I removed parts of the bottom and drilled out the rivets in one of the HD-bay walls.

post-34256-0-87367700-1379233319_thumb.j

After i put the pump in, i reconnected the HD-bay wall with a zip-tie, this makes it easy to access the pump later, and it maintains the structural integrity of the cabinet.

 

post-34256-0-74199500-1379233356_thumb.j
 

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Airflow to the VGAs:

As i stated previously, only the GPUs will be water-cooled, this means that video memory and voltage regulators will need passive cooling / heat sinks. To ensure decent airflow over the VGAs i have designed an air canal that will lead air straight over the cards.

post-34256-0-26985500-1379233688_thumb.j

Here you can see how the air will be evenly distributed to the two cards:

post-34256-0-10061200-1379233703_thumb.j

This canal will be made from 3-4mm acrylic.

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Installing 140mm radiator:

post-34256-0-01083000-1379234132_thumb.j

The EK rad is going to be installed in the backside of the cabinet above the VGAs

post-34256-0-25704400-1379234190_thumb.j

The radiator almost fits, just need to grind down the two rivets (red) and make two cuts(blue):

post-34256-0-68712700-1379234270.jpeg

The radiator now "clicks" into place due to the lip on the edge of the wall. Need to use some hand-strength to get it out, so its not going anywhere. The Sidewall still comes on easy even though its slightly bulging, not easily noticeable. I will probably move the fan to the outside of the cabinet, for looks.

 

post-34256-0-25286200-1379234399_thumb.j

 

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Installing the EK-VGA blocks and heatsinks:

Taking apart the 670:

post-34256-0-52903300-1379235685_thumb.j

post-34256-0-60626900-1379235721_thumb.j

 

post-34256-0-58935900-1379235787_thumb.j

 

VRM heatsinks need to be cleaned and stripped of the pads:

post-34256-0-05843100-1379235820_thumb.j

One of them will be cut into four pieces to fit the VRMs on the right. There is a small raised component preventing me from using a full piece.

post-34256-0-98599000-1379235856_thumb.j

post-34256-0-20414000-1379235885_thumb.j

 

post-34256-0-68851100-1379235911_thumb.j

Arctic Silver Adhesive:

post-34256-0-77767000-1379235949_thumb.j

Funky stuff, mixed as little as possible each time, didnt dry to fast so i didnt need to hurry too much, you dont want this stuff all over your PCB

post-34256-0-26739700-1379235977_thumb.j

VRM heatsinks in place:

post-34256-0-11810300-1379236032_thumb.j

 

post-34256-0-71545100-1379236061_thumb.j

VRAM heatsinks:

post-34256-0-44183400-1379236096_thumb.j

One of the VRAM heatsinks will be placed exactly under the outlet of the GPU-block and need to be modified:

post-34256-0-17327100-1379236191_thumb.j













BuildLog DCCC-4, 800D, 3570k, GTX 670 SLI, EK universal GPU blocks.

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EK-Ekoolant UV Green vs. Mayhem Pastel Green:

Trying to choose between those two coolants. The Mayhem looks best in natural light but not as vibrant green as this photo suggests:
 

post-34256-0-07336500-1379236314_thumb.j
Mayhem on the right

With UV lighting the EK was ofc. better:

post-34256-0-65734000-1379236355_thumb.j

In tubes:

post-34256-0-32338100-1379236399_thumb.j

I chose to fill with the EK one. Partly because i like the UV effect and partly because this was the previous coolant, and i need to figure how much i need to clean out the loop before filling with Mayhem. I still have two liter of the Mayhem so i can always change later.

post-34256-0-03774400-1379236453_thumb.j













BuildLog DCCC-4, 800D, 3570k, GTX 670 SLI, EK universal GPU blocks.

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Filling the loop:

I flipped by 360 around 180degrees, it would have been too tight fit to have it same way as before. Esthetically i would like the left tube coming out of the bottom to come up straight under the VGAs, but that would require me to fill the original hole and make a smooth finish, not easy, maybe later All the tubes are in, paper in place so here we go...

post-34256-0-10463700-1379236544_thumb.j

Half way through the filling i reach to the back of the cabinet to hit the powerswitch and feel a drop of water hit my hand, ohfcukohfcukohfcuk...
I turn of everything, drain the loop and start dismounting the 140 rad in the back. Luckily nothing was broken. It was my own fault though, i didnt tighten these two guys:

post-34256-0-17272300-1379236572_thumb.j

For some reason i took it for granted they were tightened from factory, wont make that mistake again:)

I put everything back together, fill the loop and go to bed. Next morning all the paper-towels are dry and im a happy gamer ))

post-34256-0-88274200-1379236619_thumb.j

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Got my hands on the last Lamptron CW611 in the country so now i got six temp probes available to monitor my system. With everything installed i wanted to see how well my aircanal was at cooling VRAM and VRM. Did stresstests in Heaven4.0 at Extreme settings, 1600x900, windowed and by playing Planetside at Ultra, 6020x1080. Unfortunatly the cooling wasnt sufficient, VRM hitting 107c under extreme load.

 

post-34256-0-44206800-1379237179_thumb.j

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Improving airflow to VGAs:

My previous testing shows that airflow should be increased, with good results. I placed a temporary 140mm fan to cool VGAs and decided to look some more at my home made air canal. What i didnt take into account when i first made it was the GPU block, its currently blocking the VRMs so i think i need to move the outlet a bit down:

Now:
post-34256-0-77279000-1379237369_thumb.j

What i hope to achieve by lowering outlet:
post-34256-0-97496900-1379237390_thumb.j

Did a little "smoke test" and tried to capture it on film. Camera sux and YouTube reduce quality aswell, but i could see that in my current setup air is escaping over the top VGA instead of everything going to the VRMs:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ukTKMzDUDP8


I hope im able to get decent airflow without putting a fan directly to the VGAs as i did in previous post. Everything would be much easier with reference cards with full-blocks, but i think i learn much more doing it the hard way than if everything was plug-and-play :P

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Mounting VGA fan:

 

Modifying the aircanal and placing a fan directly to the VGAs gave decent temps so i decided to make a permanent solution.

 

Bought another AF120 and mounted it with Velcro to the back-wall.

 

post-34256-0-20538000-1379237645_thumb.j

 

 

Notice the excellent fit between the fan and the tubing from VGAs, like it was ment to be

Ran Planetside 2 at 6020 x 1080 / Ultra. VRM peaked at 63c., CPU at 63c and GPU at 44c/45c with side panel closed, WIN.

Although i was hoping to get it to work without the extra fan, i now have excellent cooling/temps, no more worries :)

Now the ring on the fan and the bottom of the aircanal will get a coat of spray-paint, temp probes will be hidden and i will hopefully be able to concentrate on my gaming :)

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Customizing VGA fan:

Since there is no way around the extra fan to the VGAs, i decided to try to make it more neutral and not so dominating inside my case.

First i removed the rubber mounts:

post-34256-0-23203500-1379237755_thumb.j

Then i cut off the plastic mounts...

post-34256-0-83618500-1379237785_thumb.j

..,and sanded them down:

post-34256-0-42318500-1379237808_thumb.j

Finished with hand sanding with fine sandpaper and a thin coat of flat-black:

post-34256-0-89336100-1379237839_thumb.j

Happy with the end result, fits better now

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Final(?) temp measurements:

I got all the cables i need and have installed the CW611 probes. Im monitoring VGA VRM and VRAM on both cards, got one probe by the front AF120 intake fan for ambient and one stuck behind the heat shield of the Kingston RAMs. Not sure how accurate the RAM temps would be, dont know if the probe is touching the chip itself or the PCB only, anyway i should be able to detect high temperature changes.

As before temps are read of OpenHardwareMonitor except VRM, VRAM, RAM and Intake/Ambient which come from the Lamptron CW611. Cabinet fans set to 80%, could look into lowering this, but when gaming i dont notice them. Fans are set to 40% when not under heavy load.

Idle:
Shut down computer for 5-10mins, started up, waited a few mins til temps stabilized, took reading.

Heaven 4.0:
Extreme settings, 1600x900, running in loop for 25-30mins.

 

Planetside2:
Running 6020 x 1080, ultra settings, playing for 30-40mins

Results:

post-34256-0-82993000-1379238037_thumb.j
Temps at 50c+ is orange, 60c+ is red.

Highest temps are found on the top VGA, with the hottest component in this setup being the VRAM on VGA1 at 68.7c. I think these temps will ensure long life for my setup.

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wow very well done looks awsome :D 

If you tell a big enough lie and tell it frequently enough it will be believed.

-Adolf Hitler 

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Even though it's a bit dated by today's standards I still rather like the 800D. :)

I'm not a huge fan of single radiators on the case's back side besides the I/O ports

(adds too much clutter to the loop for too little added cooling performance for my

taste), but other than that I like this build, especially the creativity with the

GPU cooling.

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Even though it's a bit dated by today's standards I still rather like the 800D. :)

I'm not a huge fan of single radiators on the case's back side besides the I/O ports

(adds too much clutter to the loop for too little added cooling performance for my

taste), but other than that I like this build, especially the creativity with the

GPU cooling.

Thx m8, could have put a 240 in the bottom, but i wanted to keep bottom open to supply fresh air to VGAs. The 140 in the back looked, as you said, cluttered, but moving the 140 fan to the outside helped alot and i dont mind the 140rad now. I can still add more rad to the bottom if i wanted, maybe if i go sli fullcoverblocks in a future setup.

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