First ever build log (Lian Li PC-2120X)

[xDLGx]

I've never made a build log before and it's been 10+ years since I put together a PC from start to finish. Also I've never used watercooling before. Figured I might as well make a log and possibly get some tips along the way.

I started today as most of the hardware has arrived.

Case: Lian Li PC-2120X
CPU: i7 4770K
PSU: Corsair AX1200i
Motherboard: MSI Z87-GD65 Gaming
RAM: 16gb (2x8) Corsair Vengeance pro 2400 MHz
GPU: Asus HD 7970 Matrix Platinum 3GB
This might be temporary as I'm selling my two GTX 580 and need something now while waiting to see what the HD 9000 series will bring. This card also came with a small discount and 8 games :D
HDD: 2 x Intel 520 240GB SSDs + 1 x WD Black 2TB
Optical: Janking the DVD or Blu-ray from the old PC later...
Cooling: XSPC D5 Dual Bay Reservoir/Pump Combo, XSPC Raystorm CPU block, XSPC EX360 rad, black chrome fittings, 3X Corsair SP120 Quiet Series
Misc: Bitspower Aluminium Mesh Radgard II 360


Up in the air hardware:
Soundcard: Not decided if I should get one yet... Xonar Phebus looks interesting.
Misc: Thinking about temperature gauges in the front panel and lights inside but we'll see about that. Also want to sleeve some cables but that'll happen later. I want to use this machine before my vacation is over.


As my first watercooled PC ever I'm starting with just the CPU but if all goes well I'll expand to cooling the GPU(s) later, maybe once it's time for loop maintenance.


For now it will be a simple loop with the 360 rad in the roof of the case and the outlet of the rad going out via the 8-pin hole in the backplate and back to the bay res while hidden by the motherboard trey. I also plan that this will be the lowest point of the loop and place some drainage option there in the back.

Anyway, only things I've really done today is a quick test boot to see that the hardware isn't already broken and started sorting through all hardware and planning the build.... and screwed some stuff together.


Problems I've run into:
1. The turn from the radiator to the 8-pin hole is very tight so I'll need to get a 90 degrees angled fitting.
2. I didn't buy enough stupid tubing.
3. The radguard mesh and the radiator long screws are not compatible. Making me go from pull to push on the fans and I'll need to come up with a bit of a custom solution to cover the top vent holes with the mesh.


Some pictures:














Update 1

Update 2

[delet my acc pls]

Well this is going to be interesting

[Coombzy]

If you want superior audio quality then I would get a sound card but anyway its looking good so far loving the red and black thats something I want to do when I upgrade mine.

[Hyydrah]

Love the brushed aluminium. It looks like a nice case, especially for watercooling.

[Exotath]

Nice component selection, beautiful case.

[alpenwasser]

The 2120X was on my short list for HELIOS for a while. Eventually though I realized

I couldn't fit all the water cooling into it so I had to look elsewhere. But I do

quite like the case, so I'm definitely looking forward to this. :)

How is the build quality on the case? I've had two Lian Li cases so far, the 343B

(pretty flimsy, very thin aluminium) and a big tower (not sure which one, but very

nice build quality, thick and solid side panels on that one, sturdy core, too).

[TicTac]

Looks nice awesome case :P

[xDLGx]

After fiddling with it for a few hours today I find the build quality to be very high. The side panels are indeed thick and solid, they are heavy and don't flex at all.

 

The only negatives I've found so far are that the tool-less mounting of the front fans are a bit tight, need to push pretty hard to take them out and put them back. I'm sure it will get better as I do it a few times. Also, I guess they need to site tight or they'll just vibrate. Everything in the case has rubber to prevent vibrations.

 

Some cut out holes still got kinda sharp edges too, I'm going to place black silicone tape on them so I don't damage some cable by mistake.

 

And yes for such a large case it's clearly not made to fit a lot of radiators.

 

We'll see what I think once I really start building... stupid weekend prevents the final items I need from arriving in the mail.

 

 

 

How is the build quality on the case? I've had two Lian Li cases so far, the 343B
(pretty flimsy, very thin aluminium) and a big tower (not sure which one, but very
nice build quality, thick and solid side panels on that one, sturdy core, too).

[carolkarine]

dat 1200i is so overkill. but hey, if you ever want to throw in another GPU (or another one after that) you'll have the power for it.

[xDLGx]

dat 1200i is so overkill. but hey, if you ever want to throw in another GPU (or another one after that) you'll have the power for it.

That's the idea, not having to upgrade later.

[xDLGx]

Update 1:

 

Done what I can today on the machine. As my cleaning products and other random little things didn't arrive before the weekend I can't for example fit the waterblock yet, got nothing to clean the cpu with.

 

I ripped the the front and bottom HDD cages, planning to use the bottom cage and leave the front open for airflow.

 

 

 

Drives all fit into the bottom cage

 

 

Bottom cage installed and done some pre-emptive cable planning… bad lighting in this photo

 

 

 

Nice with a motherboard trey that can be removed…. and I didn't notice that this photo was totally out of focus until it was too late

 

 

Test fitting the radiator in the roof, didn't notice the sun was screwing up the picture

 

 

 

 

Test fitting the motherboard trey and finding out if it's possible to fit the 8-pin and the tubing…. with an angle fitting it seems possible but it's tight and will be a bit tricky. If it wasn't for the removable motherboard trey it would be next to impossible.

 

 

[xDLGx]

I aim to complete version 1 (version 2 will have more stuff in it... sleeving, another rad etc.) of this build tomorrow. I've had to wait an entire week for more tubing.

 

In the meantime I have set the system up with the stock cooler and installed Win 8. Installed key software and ran most tests etc. Now I know that if the machine is broken after I add the water loop it'll be my fault :p

 

Found that I probably didn't get the best haswell chip. Starting touching at 100c in prime95 after 25 minutes. 35c in idle though.

[Raboo]

Sweet Build

[deguzi]

it looks maroonish to me. i love it. cant wait for the finished product. goodluck with the loop!

[xDLGx]

A lot happening today and the system is running. Plan to make sure that everything is working correctly before I go back in and tweak, need to connect some of the fans differently for one and plan to hide some more cables.

Build pictures:

None of the screw holes for the bay res fit, which is funny considering how many screw holes there are in the case, including self-adjustable huge ones. I decided to stick the res in there with some help from sticky pads, rubber rings and a velcro band.

In real life the there is no visible color difference between the case and the bay res, like in this photo.

Fan grill added

Raystorm block on

Tubing:

I had to abandon my plan of running the return tube behind the motherboard trey, there is simply not enough room to comfortably do that.

[xDLGx]

 

 

No obvious leaks... yay

 

 

 

Cable nightmare... I really hate the design of the molex connectors. So bulky, cheap and stupid. Like they naturally turn the wrong way in every situation.

 

 

 

 

System running... need to take more photos tomorrow for better natural light without having to use flash.

 

 

 

 

 

[DJ46]

Keep your 7970 Matrix as long as it runs games good. It's so hard to get now that it should be treated like a king.

[xDLGx]

Keep your 7970 Matrix as long as it runs games good. It's so hard to get now that it should be treated like a king.

 

Yeah it's a cool card... also it's huge. The case comes with a built-in support for large and heavy graphics cards but the Matrix is too fat (wide) for the support to fit.

 

Now my old gaming PC is starting to make life hard for me. It's been over a year since I last had any trouble but now when I start to backup files it's BSOD... four times in the past hour. Like the machine knows it's being replaced and it's pissed off about it,

[xDLGx]

My digital camera decided to die when trying to take proper photos of the system running without having to use flash :blink: What a piece of crap.

 

Either way, step two with this will be to fix some braided cables and a custom windowed sidepanel. Also looking at different solutions for GPU support as that card is heavy as hell. Need to mod the Lian-Li GPU support somehow to make it fit.

[alpenwasser]

Well, that sucks :(

Liking the build though. The only thing that's bothering me a bit is the long tube run across

the whole thing to the front. I'm assuming there isn't enough space behind the M/B tray to

route the tubing behind that?

If it was mine I might try to run that tube to the bottom of the case along the back panel,

then to the front along the bottom and then up to the front along the drive cages. If you

have a window the tube should be hidden quite nicely. But it will be one rather long tube,

although that shouldn't really make any tangible difference.

Decision's yours, of course. ;)

[xDLGx]

Well, that sucks :(

Liking the build though. The only thing that's bothering me a bit is the long tube run across

the whole thing to the front. I'm assuming there isn't enough space behind the M/B tray to

route the tubing behind that?

 

That was the original plan for the "return to res" tube, I meant to take that out via the 8-pin cpu hole and behind the motherboard. Turns it it was just too tight. The hole is not perfect and you had to do several tight bends. I also didn't have all the angled fittings I'd needed to just experiment and try things out. Due to the sound padding on the side panel it's a bit cramped back there, you can't cross any of the thicker cables and the tubing, not enough room for that.

 

I have plans to try again, when I have to do maintainance and take it apart anyway. With sleeved cables the thick cables will be more flattened. I'll also have purchased a lot more angled fittings to experiment with.

 

With future water cooled GPU(s) the loop will also be better with a second thick 240 radiator in the front, filling up that empty void.