AlanTheEmu

Hey Guys,
 
It's finished... I mean the system is actually complete. I started this post in February as just a show & tell kind of thing but I decided to keep posting the progress of this build to how I wanted the final product to be. Which I am posting today this is EmuStation

 
Final Specs:
CPU: Intel Core i7 4790k
GPU: Nvidia GTX 970 Gigabyte Windforce 3X x2
Motherboard: Asus Sabertooth Mark 1 Z97
RAM: Corsair Vengeance 16GB (4x8) DDR3 1600Mhz
PSU: XFX XTR 750W 80+ Gold
SSD: Samsung 850 EVO 250GB Samsung 850 EVO 500GB
HDD: Seagate Barracuda 1TB Seagate SSHD 4TB
 
Thank you to everyone that followed this post and complimented the build as it progressed, I may still give an update now and then if I change something major but I think I'll post a video of the complete build in all it's glory.

80cad is expensive for 1.5mm that's like £43 to me. I paid £10 (around $18.50cad) for my shroud which was cut to my dimensions and bent for me and that was made from 1.5mm aluminium. Where did I get my shroud? Ebay. I literally searched for sheet aluminium and asked the seller if they can cut and bend it for me. It cost an extra £2 I think instead of just buying the sheet.
 

Update:
 
After a few deliveries it's time to change that awful window that comes with the R5. My window needed replacing anyway after I was soldering the LED's in there old position which was on the old window ledge itself since I couldn't place them on the metal panel as the panel couldn't close. Anyway a droplet of solder dripped off the iron and smack bang on my window as I didn't think to cover it with anything. Aside from that the window isn't great you can see the tab cut outs on the viewing side and if you have any form of LED's in the case they will highlight them. The new window is still plastic its clear perspex but its much better quality than the original window. As I don't own or have access to a laser cutter I had to do some case modding to get the new window to fit, it mainly only involved cutting the metal tabs off and smoothing out the edge so it's flush with the perspex.
 

Hi all,
 
I've been a member of the LinusTechTips forums for sometime now but I've never posted anything so I thought I would share with you all my Fractal Design Define R5 build as I think it's pretty unique (at this moment in time that is ). I call it EmuStation and it doesn't stand for emulation station as it would be a bit overkill if it was :lol:. Anyhow on wards with the pictures, I don't have any pictures of the building process as I've had most of the PC components for some time and it was originally built inside of a Fractal Design Define R4 which I owned for sometime but I upgraded to the R5 purely for the watercooling potential.
 
Latest Update
 
 System at the start of the thread.
 
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant
CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor (£265.00 @ Amazon UK)
Motherboard: Asus SABERTOOTH Z97 MARK 1 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£173.00)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 16GB (4 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£111.82 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£55.00)
Storage: Seagate 4TB 3.5" 5900RPM Hybrid Internal Hard Drive (£126.00)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 970 4GB WINDFORCE 3X Video Card (£275.00)
Case: Fractal Design Define R5 w/Window (Titanium) ATX Mid Tower Case (£94.00)
Power Supply: XFX XTR 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply (£99.00)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) (£74.95 @ CCL Computers)
Case Fan: Noctua NF-A14 PWM 82.5 CFM 140mm Fan (£20.00)
Case Fan: Noctua NF-F12 industrialPPC-2000 PWM 71.7 CFM 120mm Fan (£20.00)
Case Fan: Noctua NF-F12 industrialPPC-2000 PWM 71.7 CFM 120mm Fan (£20.00)
Case Fan: Noctua NF-F12 industrialPPC-2000 PWM 71.7 CFM 120mm Fan (£20.00)
Case Fan: Noctua NF-F12 industrialPPC-2000 PWM 71.7 CFM 120mm Fan (£20.00)
Case Fan: Noctua NF-F12 industrialPPC-2000 PWM 71.7 CFM 120mm Fan (£20.00)
Monitor: Asus VS228HR 60Hz 21.5" Monitor (£98.98 @ CCL Computers)
Monitor: Asus VS228HR 60Hz 21.5" Monitor (£98.98 @ CCL Computers)
Monitor: Asus VS228HR 60Hz 21.5" Monitor (£98.98 @ CCL Computers)
Keyboard: Corsair K70 RGB UK Wired Gaming Keyboard (£148.98 @ Aria PC)
Mouse: ROCCAT KONE XTD Wired Optical Mouse (£75.92 @ Amazon UK)
Other: Phobya Balancer 150 Reservoir (£19.99)
Other: Alphacool HF top w/ Laing D5 Pump (£73.96)
Other: EKWB EK Supremacy EVO (£40.92)
Other: EKWB EK-Coolstream PE 360 (£39.90)
Other: EKWB EK-FC970 GTX 970 (£108.00)
Other: EKWB EK-FC970 GTX WF3 B.Plate (£22.72)
Other: Alphacool NexXxos ST30 240mm (£39.93)
Other: Phobya 8x4 PWM Hub (£5.89)
Other: ScanFx Triple Monitor Stand (£129.00)
Total: £2395.92
 
System at the end of the thread.

 
Specs (before):
Intel Core i7 4790k
Asus Sabertooth Z97 Mark 1
Corsair Vengeance DDR3 16GB @ 1600mhz
Gigabyte Windforce 3x GTX 970 2 way SLI
Samsung 840 EVO 120GB SSD
Samsung 850 EVO 500GB SSD
4TB Seagate Hybrid SSHD
1TB Seagate Barracuda
XFX XTR 750W
 
Specs (after):
Intel Core i7 4790k
Asus Sabertooth Z97 Mark 1
Corsair Vengeance DDR3 16GB @ 1600Mhz
Gigabyte Windforce 3x GTX 970 2 way SLI
Samsung 850 EVO 250GB
Samsung 850 EVO 500GB
Seagate 4TB SSHD
EVGA SuperNova 1000 P2

 

Not much has happened again but I have now upgraded my 120GB 840 evo for a 250gb 850 evo and I have also upgraded Windows 7 for Windows 8.1 Pro (I got a good deal on it). I was playing around with my LED controller today since it responds to music and thought I would record it for you guys if you want to see the LED's in action.
Spoiler

Hey Guys,
 
It's finished... I mean the system is actually complete. I started this post in February as just a show & tell kind of thing but I decided to keep posting the progress of this build to how I wanted the final product to be. Which I am posting today this is EmuStation

 
Final Specs:
CPU: Intel Core i7 4790k
GPU: Nvidia GTX 970 Gigabyte Windforce 3X x2
Motherboard: Asus Sabertooth Mark 1 Z97
RAM: Corsair Vengeance 16GB (4x8) DDR3 1600Mhz
PSU: XFX XTR 750W 80+ Gold
SSD: Samsung 850 EVO 250GB Samsung 850 EVO 500GB
HDD: Seagate Barracuda 1TB Seagate SSHD 4TB
 
Thank you to everyone that followed this post and complimented the build as it progressed, I may still give an update now and then if I change something major but I think I'll post a video of the complete build in all it's glory.

Hey Guys,
 
It's finished... I mean the system is actually complete. I started this post in February as just a show & tell kind of thing but I decided to keep posting the progress of this build to how I wanted the final product to be. Which I am posting today this is EmuStation

 
Final Specs:
CPU: Intel Core i7 4790k
GPU: Nvidia GTX 970 Gigabyte Windforce 3X x2
Motherboard: Asus Sabertooth Mark 1 Z97
RAM: Corsair Vengeance 16GB (4x8) DDR3 1600Mhz
PSU: XFX XTR 750W 80+ Gold
SSD: Samsung 850 EVO 250GB Samsung 850 EVO 500GB
HDD: Seagate Barracuda 1TB Seagate SSHD 4TB
 
Thank you to everyone that followed this post and complimented the build as it progressed, I may still give an update now and then if I change something major but I think I'll post a video of the complete build in all it's glory.

Hey Guys,
 
It's finished... I mean the system is actually complete. I started this post in February as just a show & tell kind of thing but I decided to keep posting the progress of this build to how I wanted the final product to be. Which I am posting today this is EmuStation

 
Final Specs:
CPU: Intel Core i7 4790k
GPU: Nvidia GTX 970 Gigabyte Windforce 3X x2
Motherboard: Asus Sabertooth Mark 1 Z97
RAM: Corsair Vengeance 16GB (4x8) DDR3 1600Mhz
PSU: XFX XTR 750W 80+ Gold
SSD: Samsung 850 EVO 250GB Samsung 850 EVO 500GB
HDD: Seagate Barracuda 1TB Seagate SSHD 4TB
 
Thank you to everyone that followed this post and complimented the build as it progressed, I may still give an update now and then if I change something major but I think I'll post a video of the complete build in all it's glory.

Normally I'll clean it when it's time to drain my loop and clean the blocks/rads since I will be disassembling the GPU's and CPU I may as well clean the whole thing. So every 12 months. I'll clean the filters when I remember that they are there  :lol:.

You have chosen good quality components it's probably fine as it is, only thing I would change is the PSU for an ATX instead of SFX.

What could be louder than a jet engine... 2 jet engines? 

GTA SA had the best hands down I remember looking for bigfoot and going to the military base in the desert near Las Venturas. Regarding GTA IV and GTA V however, I haven't heard of any good myths from GTA V yet apart from the one with the picture on top of Mount Chilliad. So I would say GTA IV for now.
 
EDIT; can't forget the one with the wheelchair near the lake in the desert also brb I'm going to play some SA.

GTA SA had the best hands down I remember looking for bigfoot and going to the military base in the desert near Las Venturas. Regarding GTA IV and GTA V however, I haven't heard of any good myths from GTA V yet apart from the one with the picture on top of Mount Chilliad. So I would say GTA IV for now.
 
EDIT; can't forget the one with the wheelchair near the lake in the desert also brb I'm going to play some SA.

The cooler will fit. If you go to Scan it will tell you the max dimensions of the case. The max CPU cooler height is 185mm in that case, the evo 212 is 159mm so it will fit. As for the rest of your build everything is fine. PcPartPicker usually tells you if it's incompatible and it shows you estimated wattage in the top right (under overview). The only thing I would recommend you to add to the list is an SSD with a minimum of 120GB for your OS.

Custom water cooling is a thing you have to enjoy doing if you don't enjoy it don't do it. It's expensive as well just for a basic CPU/GPU loop it will probably set you back $300 and that's the bare minimum. Custom loops do look good IF you put time into making them look good and if you have never watercooled before I suggest using flexible tubing opposed to rigid tubing.

The Xeon E3 1231 V3 is basically an i7 as in its a quad core with 4 threads which is what you want for rendering the only reason its cheaper than an i7 is because it doesn't have an iGPU and you can't overclock it which could turn out to be an advantage since H97 motherboards tend to be cheaper than Z97.

I would think it would handle it fine its one of the best air coolers on the market. Look up some reviews on it and see if you can find a chart comparing coolers.

The Xeon E3 1231 V3 is basically an i7 as in its a quad core with 4 threads which is what you want for rendering the only reason its cheaper than an i7 is because it doesn't have an iGPU and you can't overclock it which could turn out to be an advantage since H97 motherboards tend to be cheaper than Z97.

I'm in SC: AlanTheEmu

You seem good the only things that would have compatibility issues would be the fittings and tubing. You may find that you might need 45° or 90° fittings as well depending how your setting your loop up. Also you won't need 10 fittings as the pump has barbs on it unless you plan to get a pump top if not get 9 fittings 8 for your loop 1 for filling your loop. Just a question why get red coolant when your getting black tubing? 

You seem good the only things that would have compatibility issues would be the fittings and tubing. You may find that you might need 45° or 90° fittings as well depending how your setting your loop up. Also you won't need 10 fittings as the pump has barbs on it unless you plan to get a pump top if not get 9 fittings 8 for your loop 1 for filling your loop. Just a question why get red coolant when your getting black tubing? 

$20 for a pump? Most pump tops cost more than that. Pumps are more likely to be around the $90-$120 price bracket depending on if your getting DDC or D5

Width - 167mm Length - 300mm be aware that the length won't reach to the top of the case you will have to add on to it if you want it to cover from top to bottom the width however shouldn't change.

In the picture I used a piece of 3mm acrylic with industrial strength velcro to hold it in place you can also use thin metal as well. I currently have an aluminium panel there now to hold my reservoir. If your going to do this you will have to do it yourself as there is no bracket. I can give you the dimensions of the panel to save you time if you like.

Vertically there should be no problems.
 
I've got a pic of what I did. Also quote what I've said so I get notified.