Water cooled Bitfenix Prodigy (no 64k!)

[MG2R]

So, this is my first water cooled system ever! It has been built a few months ago, but I'll post the build log nonetheless. It's still a work in progress, there are a few things I came up with that I still want to change. More on that later!

The pics below are not all pics taken of the build -- not even close. You can find them all at https://plus.google.com/photos/11477...81473540381313

Updates are as follows:

• Changed the PSU fan (+video)
  
• Delidded the CPU and mounted the water block directly (video)
  

Everything starts with the component list:

• ASUS P8Z77I-deluxe
  
• Intel Core i5-3570K
  
• Corsair Low Profile 8GB 1600MHz DDR3 Black
  
• nVidia Geforce GTX670
  
• 2x120GB Kingston SSDnow V+200 in RAID0
  
• Corsair CX 600
  
• Bitfenix Prodigy
  

OS and peripherals:

• Windows 8 Pro 64bit (was Windows 7 at first)
  
• Dell Ultrasharp 23"
  
• Corsair K90
  
• Logitech Performance MX
  
• Corsair Vengeance 2000
  

And last but not least, cooling:

• EK Supremacy Acetal-Copper
  
• EK FC670 Acetal-Copper + backplate
  
• Swiftech Quiet Power 240mm
  
• 2xAP121 + the two stock bitfenix fans that come with the prodigy
  
• mCubed T-Balancer bigNG
  
• Laing D5-MCD655
  

I already built some computers before this, but I was still very happy (boxes are SO exciting) when this arrived:

First thing to do: air test! Never skip over this! If there is a problem with one of the components, you really want to identify and fix that pproblem before throwing this thing into a case with water cooling installed!

I let that stress test for about 24 hours whilst ripping the case apart. Everything has to go: ODD, bay, top HDD bay, bottem HDD bay, everything gone!

After that, it was time to install the water blocks. This is where I ran into a problem: the EX Supremacy comes with a rubber patch that fits around the stock "back plate" for the cpu. It goes there and fits between the Supremacy back plate and the motherboard to prevent shortages (I think). But because the mini-ITX board is so crowded, It has electronic components on the back of the motherboard around the CPU socket. This didn't allow me to use the rubber patch and just prey for the best:

The rest of the water block installation went fine:

The I installed all the parts except for tubing, pump and reservoir. Note: you'll see a giant aerocool fan in the next pictures. I didn't end up using that, it was waaaaaaay to loud, even at low speeds.

Some cable management I'm proud of:

I couldn't use the front panel audio:

Next I started to plan out the placement of pump and reservoir and plan out the tubing. It was then that I decided to add a fill and drain port. So I wrapped everything up in plastic (didn't want to take the build apart again). And bought a nice drill to cut some openings:

Then I made myself a silver coil. I think the silver coils for sale in the shops are way over priced. So I bought a string of pure silver on ebay and just made it myself:

Final placement of pump and reservoir:

Tubing:

And preparing for leaks:

And eventually the system got filled:

Then, there was one more thing I wanted to do: hide the cables that are tucked away in the PSU compartiment. To do this I used a piece of state of the art technology: thick, black paper! I cut it to size and inserted it in the compartiment. In the picture it looks like a different kind of black, but in real life it matches perfectly and helps a lot to tidy up the case!

That was the first part. I ran the system like that, overclocked, for a couple of months. But two weeks ago I couldn't stand the noise anymore. Although I'm using air penetrators, the system wasn't quiet enough. (I hate computer noise)

The solution was a set of noctua fans.

I'll update you on that soon!

[Guest]

That ChupaChup... :P

Looks sweet man. What are your temps like with only the 240?

[MG2R]

That ChupaChup... :P Looks sweet man. What are your temps like with only the 240?

Right now I have my CPU OCed to 4.5 GHz and I get GPU 52 degrees celcius and CPU max of 82 degrees celcius, both stress tessted at the same time. I'll be throwing screens of that in the updates soon ;) Now I must study :p

In the beginning I went up all the way to 4.8GHz though. CPU temps like 90-95 :D

[newlinedetails]

Looks fantastic :)

[MG2R]

Just noticed I brainfarted in my thread title... Should've said 'no 56k'. *doh*

[Huskie]

It's amazing what you can do in a Prodigy.

[Nit3Rid3R]

Looks so good. Love the setup in such a small case!

[JoeAubin15]

How has Linus or Slick not see this? This awesome man! I love these small form factor decked out builds i've seen around the net. Great job dude!

[hiyayhi]

Man that looks good, The routing of all the tubing and cables is immaculate!

Great work!

[Baxterz]

Wow you did a really good job while working with such a small case!

[onionring]

wow nice, I didn t realise gtx 670 were so small! it looks so tiny compared to the motherboard!

[mono]

Nice build man ; )

[dgtL]

ohhh thats a sexy bitch! great work man. very jelly of this prodigy!

[dgtL]

ohh man thats a sexy bitch!! Great work! very jelly of that prodigy!

[MG2R]

Thanks for all the nice comments!

As promised: an update...

I swapped out all of the fans in my system for noctua's (three NF-F12 and one NF-S12B) to make the whole system more silent. This worked quite well, except for the fact that now the PSU fan was VERY noticeable. The CX600 makes an irritating rattling noise. So I went back to the store , picked up another NF-F12, and put that inside the CX600. Result: a damn near inaudible system! Seriously, this thing is quiet!!

I shot a video of the PSU modding process:

"So whats next?", you might ask. Well, I'm thinking about delidding my 3570K... But I'm not sure if I should just replace the TIM, or go ahead and try to mount my waterblock directly on te die... What's your take on this guys (and gals)? Should I do it, or not? And if I do it, how do I mount it?

PS: How the hell do I get a poll into this thing? :p

[bennyino]

on the initial post you can edit it and there should be an option to make a poll there. is there an eta on the video? :P looking really forward to watching it :D

[MG2R]

on the initial post you can edit it and there should be an option to make a poll there. is there an eta on the video? :P looking really forward to watching it :D

Uploading as we speak, but it will not be up until tomorrow morning (~08:00 GMT+1, Brussels)

[bennyino]

on the initial post you can edit it and there should be an option to make a poll there. is there an eta on the video? :P looking really forward to watching it :D

great :D can you do the poll?

[MG2R]

on the initial post you can edit it and there should be an option to make a poll there. is there an eta on the video? :P looking really forward to watching it :D

Can't find the option to add a poll -_- Video is up, btw

[MG2R]

To all of you who missed it: the video is up :)

[bennyino]

on the initial post you can edit it and there should be an option to make a poll there. is there an eta on the video? :P looking really forward to watching it :D

that's a shame :/ the video looks nice but i certainly won't mess about with my psu :P

[Sanguinn]

Thanks for all the nice comments!

As promised: an update...

I swapped out all of the fans in my system for noctua's (three NF-F12 and one NF-S12B) to make the whole system more silent. This worked quite well, except for the fact that now the PSU fan was VERY noticeable. The CX600 makes an irritating rattling noise. So I went back to the store , picked up another NF-F12, and put that inside the CX600. Result: a damn near inaudible system! Seriously, this thing is quiet!!

I shot a video of the PSU modding process:

"So whats next?", you might ask. Well, I'm thinking about delidding my 3570K... But I'm not sure if I should just replace the TIM, or go ahead and try to mount my waterblock directly on te die... What's your take on this guys (and gals)? Should I do it, or not? And if I do it, how do I mount it?

PS: How the hell do I get a poll into this thing? :p

Interesting video - I really hope you took that bit of protective film off of the Corsair logo on the PSU, though, hehe.

[Chronic]

Why are you using the mCubed T-balancer? Don't Asus Z77 boards come with the fan expert 2 software? Works great on mine for setting up custom fan curves etc

[MG2R]

Why are you using the mCubed T-balancer? Don't Asus Z77 boards come with the fan expert 2 software? Works great on mine for setting up custom fan curves etc

True, I'm not using that anymore. Forgot to tell that in the update. Fans are now attached to the motherboard ;)

[MG2R]

Thanks for all the nice comments!

As promised: an update...

I swapped out all of the fans in my system for noctua's (three NF-F12 and one NF-S12B) to make the whole system more silent. This worked quite well, except for the fact that now the PSU fan was VERY noticeable. The CX600 makes an irritating rattling noise. So I went back to the store , picked up another NF-F12, and put that inside the CX600. Result: a damn near inaudible system! Seriously, this thing is quiet!!

I shot a video of the PSU modding process:

"So whats next?", you might ask. Well, I'm thinking about delidding my 3570K... But I'm not sure if I should just replace the TIM, or go ahead and try to mount my waterblock directly on te die... What's your take on this guys (and gals)? Should I do it, or not? And if I do it, how do I mount it?

PS: How the hell do I get a poll into this thing? :p

Nope, left it on there. It's not in sight, so it's stays put for now :)