build logs The Guinea Pig: High End Rig For The Wife

[GlorifiedPaperShuffler]

For months now, I have been planning to build two high end rigs for me and the wife.

 

The wife's system will be built first, because ladies first, and also because I've never done hard line water cooling before, so I need a guinea pig.

Her rig will be high end for sure, but it'll just be a generic high end rig. It'll serve as the test bed for many things, including hard line bending/cutting, water block installation, Corsair's iCue, HydroX parts, X570, Ryzen 3rd Gen, and RTX games.

 

We've got the furniture for a twin battlestation area last weekend. Today, the first set of tools arrived. I figured the Eiskoffer will give me the best chance of pulling this off well the first time around. Actual construction will begin this Labor Day weekend.

 

Total budget for her rig is $3800.

Parts list:

PCPartPicker Part List

Type	Item	Price
CPU	AMD Ryzen 7 3700X 3.6 GHz 8-Core Processor	$327.79 @ OutletPC
Motherboard	Asus PRIME X570-PRO ATX AM4 Motherboard	$236.89 @ OutletPC
Memory	Corsair Vengeance RGB Pro 32 GB (4 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 Memory	$199.99 @ Amazon
Storage	Corsair MP600 Force Series Gen4 1 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive	$249.99 @ Best Buy
Video Card	NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER 8 GB Video Card	$699.99 @ Best Buy
Case	Corsair Crystal 570X RGB ATX Mid Tower Case	$189.98 @ Newegg
Power Supply	Corsair 860 W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply
Case Fan	Corsair LL120 RGB White with Lighting Node PRO 63 CFM 120 mm Fans	$119.99 @ Amazon
Case Fan	Corsair LL120 RGB 63 CFM 120 mm Fan	$35.99 @ Amazon
Case Fan	Corsair LL120 RGB 63 CFM 120 mm Fan	$35.99 @ Amazon
Case Fan	Corsair LL120 RGB 63 CFM 120 mm Fan	$35.99 @ Amazon
Keyboard	Corsair K70 RGB MK.2 SE Wired Gaming Keyboard	$179.99 @ Amazon
Mouse	Corsair M65 RGB ELITE Wired Optical Mouse	$54.86 @ OutletPC
Custom	Hydro X Series XD5 RGB Pump/Reservoir Combo	$154.99
Custom	Hydro X Series XF Hardline 14mm OD Fitting Four Pack — White	$25.99
Custom	Hydro X Series XC7 RGB CPU Water Block (115X/AM4)	$74.99
Custom	Hydro X Series XR7 360mm Water Cooling Radiator	$114.99
Custom	Hydro X Series XR5 240mm Water Cooling Radiator	$59.99
Custom	Hydro X Series XG7 RGB 20-SERIES GPU Water Block (2080 FE)	$149.99
Custom	Hydro X Series XF Hardline 14mm OD Fitting Four Pack — White	$26.99
Custom	Hydro X Series XF Hardline 14mm OD Fitting Four Pack — White	$26.99
Custom	Hydro X Series XF Ball Valve — Chrome	$19.99
Custom	Hydro X Series XT Hardline 14mm Tubing	$19.99
Custom	iCUE Commander PRO Smart RGB Lighting and Fan Speed Controller	$74.99
Custom	Hydro X Series XL5 Performance Coolant 1L — Purple	$17.99
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total (before mail-in rebates)	$3165.32
	Mail-in rebates	-$30.00
	Total	$3135.32
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-08-28 23:37 EDT-0400

 

I'm opening this thread first and foremost to log the build process, so you can laugh at our mistakes, and maybe I can also learn something, but also because when I'm spending this kind of money, I'd like someone else to at least know about it. We're both sorta introverted people who don't often welcome guests in our home. So no one will probably ever see the rigs in-person.

[GlorifiedPaperShuffler]

I only had a few hours today to make some progress with this build.

 

Initially I had wanted to plan the routing for all the wires in this computer, but it became too much to keep track of. So I decided to say, "fuck it", and just make up the routing as we went along.

 

I put in the MB, top radiator, and a few fans:

 

But what I'd like to focus on in today's log is a little experiment for cable management (see the USB 3.0 cable sticking out near the bottom?). Originally I had wanted to buy some nice custom length cables from Cablemod, until I found out how goddamned expensive they were, and even after that, there was no guarantee that I could give them the precise measurements needed.

 

So after some thought, I realized that IRL I am an automotive engineer, with 50% of my work being automotive harnesses. Why not apply the same construction methods to PC cable management?

 

I experimented a little with the USB 3.0 cable, and I think the results look decent. Additionally, with automotive harness construction methods, you could get the cables to stay in certain shapes ("forming" or sometimes "dressing").

 

 

 

Also, there is a myriad of additional accessories you could buy online (if you know their part numbers) to enable even more ways to manage cables. You can even bundle multiple cables together that are going the same route, and you get a nice clean run of cables.

 

What do you guys think?

[Anoraked]

looks real nice!

[Mr. Smiley]

Cables look nice, and being able to form them would help with cable management a ton. Is there anyway that you could sleeve them after they are formed though so that they look cleaner? The electrical tape looks somewhat janky IMO

[GlorifiedPaperShuffler]

On 9/4/2019 at 12:58 PM, Mr. Smiley said:

Cables look nice, and being able to form them would help with cable management a ton. Is there anyway that you could sleeve them after they are formed though so that they look cleaner? The electrical tape looks somewhat janky IMO

I don't see why you couldn't sleeve them after.

 

But with a harness style construction, multiple branches come together into a single bundle if they go the same way. So it might make it difficult to sleeve.

[GlorifiedPaperShuffler]

Today I did more test fitting.

 

Honestly, I should've done this at the start. With the Cablemod vertical GPU bracket, it pushes out the GPU some towards the front.

 

Then couple that with my overambitious choice of an XR7 radiator. Corsair should've just called this radiator the Thiccboi. There's basically no room left to mount the reservoir:

 

 

 

I don't know if it's "alright". There's basically 1-2mm clearance from the radiator, which means there's next to no room at all when it comes time to install the hard line water loop. I'm slightly concerned about noise when the pump operates, since it is touching the PSU shroud.

 

What would your advice be?

[GlorifiedPaperShuffler]

Welp, I learned a few new things about building computers today.

 

1) Don't be a hero. There's a reason why nobody has tried to build a computer, and manage cables like automotive harnesses. This experiment was an abject failure, and it created so much more bulk and frustration that made it almost impossible to manage cables properly. It's why real harnesses are built with individual wires cut-to-length. I had to replace all the power cables I screwed up trying to make harnesses (removed the shrink wrap), and had to clean up, so here's a before and after:

 

2) Hard line bending is hard. Linus and JayzTwoCents make it look too easy. It took me the better part of 6 hours today to make 3 lines (plus lots of scrap lines).

 

Here's my first bend ever:

 

I feel like it's not going to be water tight, but we'll see. And here's how far I've made it so far:

 

Nothing in this PC lines up "properly" for some reason, so there's lots of gentle 45 degree bends to get the lines into the fittings.

Wish me luck.