< Lil' Bastard > Custom Watercooled 250D

[Khazzirh]

 

Alright, time for a new build. I found that I enjoy building as much as I can into small cases, and ofcourse the Corsair 250D would be the perfect candidate. I have recently finished a BitFenix ITX-build ( http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/173808-blue-bit-watercooled-bitfenix-prodigy-itx/ ) but wanted to try and cram even more into something even smaller

 

There has already been a bit of planning gone into this, and the original idea was to do a dual loop, an idea that will probably get scrapped, as the case is neither large enough to need it, nor is it large enough to enjoy the view of a good-looking dual-loop build.. :lol:

 

But still, it is going to be a loop with two rads, a slim 240 on the side, and a slim 120 at the front, cooling the CPU and the GPU. Was thinking about cooling the ram as well, mostly for show, but  Not gonna be as much modding to the case itself as last time, perhaps a windows into the side where the graphics card will be, but that'll be a bit further into the build.

 

Components (as currently planned):

 

CPU: Intel 4690K (Acquired)

Motherboard: MSI Z97I Gaming AC (Acquired)

Memory: Crucial Ballistix Tactical Red/Green LED CL8 (Acquired)

Storage: Samsung 840 Pro Series 250 GB SSD

Storage: WD Desktop Black 3 TB

GPU: EVGA GeForce GTX 780 3GB PhysX CUDA (Acquired)

PSU: Corsair RM650 (Acquired)

Case: Corsair 250D (Acquired)

Fans: Scythe "Slip Stream Slim" 120 x 12 mm - Ultra Low Speed (Acquired)

Radiator 1: Black Ice Stealth 240 GTS XFlow (Acquired)

Radiator 2: Black Ice Nemesis 120 GTS U-Flow (Acquired)

Fittings: Primochill Rigid Revolver Compression Fittings - Black (Aquired)

Res./Pump: EK-DDC 3.2 PWM X-RES 140 (Aquired)

CPU-Waterblock: Swiftech APOGEE XL PPCS Custom Biohazard Edition (Aquired)

GPU-Waterblock: XSPC Razor GTX Titan/780/780Ti V2 Full Cover Waterblock (Aquired)

GPU Backplate: XSPC Razor GTX Titan/780/780Ti Backplate (Acquired)

Tubing: PrimoChill 1/2in Rigid Acrylic Tubing - Clear (Acquired)

 

The color-theme is probably going to be black and green, with the green being the water in the cooling-loop, and the wires in general. Its gonna be a build both for efficiency and aesthetics, and of course a bit of fun trying to squeeze alot of the current high-end components into such a small little thing, thus the name

 

Pictures will follow, currently only in possession of the case itself, doing all the planning and such, and most all the parts for the cooling have been ordered. Will throw out a few pictures of the case assebled and disassembled soon, to get this show on the road

 

Feedback and such is always appreciated, otherwise, stay tuned for more

 

Finished pictures:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[ericlee30]

No pics for Lil' Bastard

[AlwaysFSX]

No pics for Lil' Bastard

That bastard...

[AMICLG]

Build looks cool, small form factor builds are my favorite also unless your video editing I really would recommend against the Titan Black.

[BonBon Scott]

Followed.

[TeddyMcSwag]

Oh man, water cooled ITX! Just the way I like it!

[ericlee30]

That bastard...

LMAO

[TheTiger]

Wow that sounds great, also very expensive followed!

[Khazzirh]

No pics for Lil' Bastard

 

No worries, there's gonna be plenty of pictures, I intend to document carefully

 

Build looks cool, small form factor builds are my favorite also unless your video editing I really would recommend against the Titan Black.

 

Figured that if I end up deciding against the Titan Black, the block still fits other cards, so I can still change my mind

[ericlee30]

No worries, there's gonna be plenty of pictures, I intend to document carefully

Freaking sweet Cant wait.

[AMICLG]

Figured that if I end up deciding against the Titan Black, the block still fits other cards, so I can still change my mind

Yup, reference PCB 770, 780, 780ti so your options are open.

[Guest acdcman200]

No worries, there's gonna be plenty of pictures, I intend to document carefully

i cant wait to see pics of the finished build and of it in progress. followed

[MarQue98]

Green themed itx build followed

[Khazzirh]

 

Alright, promised a few pictures, although it's not gonna be super-interesting just yet

 

The case, in all its glory

 

 

Really like all the openings on this thing, subtle and effective

 

 

A bit of a picture of the interior, with some color-samples I was considering

 

 

Exploded view

 

 

Gotta get this unecessary thing out of the way

 

 

There we go

 

 

Space really is at a premium here, and getting rid of the drive-bay gives both more room, and makes it easier to see the water-cooling-components when removing the top lid.

 

Now we play the waiting game, while the next parts arrive

[Khazzirh]

 

Alright, got some more parts today

 

Some of the parts, the Swiftech waterblock looks really awesome, can't wait to see it with lighting, and the same goes for the XSPC GPU-block

 

 

Also ordered a kit for bending the tubes, really like the sturdy feel on all the parts here, and going to help a lot with even cuts, and nice bends

 

 

Got a little enthusiastic and threw the 240 rad right into the case with the fans. Had some issues with how I was going to mount the fans and the rad to the wall, so I ended up with just glueing the fans to the rad, and then screwing the fans to the wall. Seems to work, even though its kind of a dirty solution..

 

 

Still looks alright though, and I'm really glad I went with the 12 mm fans instead of the normal 25mm. Space is limited enough as it is

 

 

Saves a lot of space

 

 

And also a picture of the pump and res, gonna follow up with a few pictures of how stuff looks kind of mounted into the case

 

[MarQue98]

YEAH I love xspc waterblocks! me be excited

[TheTiger]

Gonna be interesting how those low profile fans will perform!

[Khazzirh]

 

Alright, gonna throw out a few more pictures to show the general picture here

 

 

Initially, the res fits alright

 

 

But as I plan to stick this foam from Alphacool under it, to avoid it vibrating against the case, it became too tall

 

 

Placed an order for a new, shorter clear acrylic piece for the res, lowering it by 4 cm, sufficient to lower it below where the tubes go

 

Other than that, its coming together nicely

 

 

 

As I said, not too much modding to do to this case, but I'm planning on building a little "wall" on the inside, creating a space for wires and such, keeping all the clutter completely out of view. More of that later

[Khazzirh]

 

Alright, now we're getting to some more exciting parts

 

 

Got a little mountain of parts today, and short of the hard drives it is pretty much everything I need to complete the build

 

 

Used this same PSU in my last build, and I got to say that I was quite pleased with it then, so I'm giving it another shot now

 

 

Tuned down the processor a bit in comparison to the original plan, as the i5 really is a bit more bang for buck, and just a more logical choice for a gaming-rig

 

Same procedure with the GPU, as someone pointed out the Titan was probably unnecessary, and the 780 really should suffice for a build like this. Hope that doesn't ruin anyones original thoughts of the build (Also, kinder on the wallet  )

 

 

Ordered some Crucial RAM, can't wait to see how these look with the integrated lighting (the stickers were promptly removed )

 

 

Starting the disassembly for the fitting of the waterblock

 

 

And there we go, all mounted up and looking pretty 

 

 

and with the backplate

 

 

The edges of the graphics card has green lighting, so can't wait to see how that ends up as well

 

Also, the MSI-mobo has some nice touches, really love the little things, such as the plate that goes on the back is black, keeping it in line with the theme

 

 

Installed

 

[TheTiger]

Nice!
Please give us a little review about the MSI Board (Bios, Functions, Audio!)

[DEAMONFROST]

I just so love extreme small builds they are awesome.

[MarQue98]

looking prettaaaay  :wub:

[Khazzirh]

Nice!

Please give us a little review about the MSI Board (Bios, Functions, Audio!)

 

Will do, although it might be a little while, still lots of work ahead of me

[Khazzirh]

 

Updates coming a bit fast now, can't resist working on it

 

Got all the pieces I need for the draining-system. Not really necessary I know, but good to have, and looks pretty good

 

 

The motherboard is looking pretty good, but the red details really doesn't fit with this build 

 

 

So here we go, improved it a little bit

 

 

Testing the different components and how they fit in the cabinet

 

 

From the top

 

 

Let me know what you think

[TheTiger]

Will do, although it might be a little while, still lots of work ahead of me

 

Thank you, sir!

The acid green looks awesome!