(build log) Killer Panda PC - Z370 X Code

[AT0MAC]

8 hours ago, Mnpctech said:

This is a very well done project log.

Thanks a lot!

 

It's almost a diary or step by step guide, but I like to show how I archive my results.

Actually just finished another project were I did it in opposite order, showed off the result first and then the building process, difference is that this one is now almost on it's 6th month since planning started, and the other build took me 2 days...

 

Anyway, thanks for looking and for the comment, I hope I will not disappoint in the result.

[AT0MAC]

Don't worry, I'm still here.

Things I do now takes soo long time and can barely be seen what I have done.

 

Last night I ended up working 3 hours doing the pipe connecting my rad outlet to my res inlet, that small piece was super difficult!
I wish I had used soft tubing but damn these chromed pipes look soo good!

 

It kind of remind me of the engine room on a big ship or something similar, there is pipes, valves, wires everywhere.

 

Very industrial.... If I did not know it, my first guess would definitely not be that its parts for a computer.

 

Speaking of wires, I did some wire management in the basement, don't care so much about looks down here, mainly function, the looks is more for up top.
The wires alone almost looks like i'm building a b*mb - cut the blue or the yellow wire???

 

 

I ended up reusing a 8Pin EPS connectors sleeves, from a old BitFenix extender I have laying around.
The yellow and blue wires were very noticeable there behind the pump, so for the first long part of the wire its now sleeved in black, so the yellow/blue is only visible if you look trough the hole right below the CPU (invisible when motherboard is installed)

 

So you see, that's what I meen, 2 pictures and that's already 3 hours work, we are now down the the nitty gritty details.

Stay tuned for more!

[AT0MAC]

I have a really long work day tomorrow so I don't expect to get anything done on this until earliest friday.
So I did a little more just now, and now its midnight so I better get to bed.

 

Undressed my motherboard

 

 

Replaced all thermal pads with very high end ones, 14 W/mk 1.5mm

 

 

Mounted my CPU blocks backplate

 

 

Fired her up with a passive heatsink I have laying around.
Everything just works so far!

 

 

 

Stay tuned for more progress during the weekend.
Goodnight...

[vegaspimp22]

Keep it up! I cant believe how many views you have here.  I kinda posted an update just like that one you did, where you were like, how do i not have more than like 4 comments.   I have less people on OC.net looking or commenting now, than I did when I first introduced my build.  Its like a ghost town on all the sites.  I guess we are just not famous enough, i just worry because my final reveal is next week, and no one but a few people will see it im afraid.  

 

  

[AT0MAC]

5 hours ago, vegaspimp22 said:

Keep it up! I cant believe how many views you have here.  I kinda posted an update just like that one you did, where you were like, how do i not have more than like 4 comments.   I have less people on OC.net looking or commenting now, than I did when I first introduced my build.  Its like a ghost town on all the sites.  I guess we are just not famous enough, i just worry because my final reveal is next week, and no one but a few people will see it im afraid.  

 

  

 

There is now more than 12.000 views on the 4 threads I have this build log running on!

 

That's kind of crazy... And yet still, I'm not famous, not sponsored, have many comments or a rave of discussion going on.

 

Linus Tech Tips:    2.868 views
Tweak.dk:              3.000 views
Bit-tech.net:           2.767 views
Overclock.net:       3.556 views
------------------------------------------
                            12.191 views

 

I know that one of the sites recently asked for permission to post on the sites official Facebook page, but have not done it yet, so all this is definitely getting some attention.

Hopefully the attention don't die out as I soon am done, a week more or so.

 

To all people watching, stay peaked for a grand finally soon!

[AT0MAC]

Now I know how it must be to work in a R&D department of a graphics card manufacturer.

I have heavily modded my Zotac Amp Extreme GTX 1070 today, there is not a card like this by any stretch anywhere else until now.

 

There will be many pictures today, else it will be difficult for me to show you all the blood, sweat and tears I have been going trough today, been almost working 4 hours on this update.

 

----------> lets get to it

 

Started off by drilling holes in my black painted backplate, was pretty scary if it would mess up and rip off the paint but I succeeded.

 

 

Mounted the Zotac slogan plate back in its place, it kind of fits the build I'm making, I will push the GTX 1070 and 8600K to the limit

 

 

New high quality thermal pads, 14 W/mk, mounted

 

 

Put a thermal probe on the backside of the GPU, because it's always nice to have some data to see how things are going.
The yellow tape is kapton tape, made specifically for an application like this

 

 

Cooler Master MasterGel Maker 11 W/mk thermal paste for the GPU
Im using this because it should have very good spread, there are some micro scratches in my gpu heatsink, and should therefor be ideal for improving the cooling directly on die of my gpu

 

 

Had to figure out how much to use, so did a test mount and clearly used too much, but would not have known if I did not test it out.

 

Mounted a fan to the top of the backplate, in the holes I started making and threaded, threaded them to have maximum grip for the only 2 screws holding the whole weight of the fan.
It actually works perfectly! Mounted it with some rubber dampers between backplate and fan so everything should be in check, even vibrations.

 

 

So now the backplate looks like this

 

 

And the front side looks like this

 

 

Let me just say it mildly, it took forever to install the graphics card!!!
I had to even unscrew the bracket plate where the connections are, because I could else not angle it into place!
Then screw on the backplate after the gpu was back inside the case.
Dont have any pictures of this process because it was frustrating!!!!

But the result payed off, GPU is now installed and looks way better than before with improved cooling and improved monitoring (the probe)

 

 

This is where all my SketchUp work clearly pays off, there is like 1,5mm space between the rad and the back of the graphics card!

 

 

Now the machine looks like this and everything is still so far working!!

Don't mind the cabling, am nowhere done with that yet.

 

 

 

 

Ohh yes by the way, AFTER installing the GPU I noticed I had forgot something... The front USB cables!

THAT was a serious pain in the b-hind to fix, but I am confident it will work next time I get the chance to test it, didnt feel to turn it on right now so actually dont know.

 

 

Maybe the cable is not complettely in the right angle, and maybe I pinched the internal wires, but whatever if thats the case...

 

 

 

Lets see if I am lucky yet again and it actually works

Stay tuned for more "manufacturing", see you later

[AT0MAC]

Today I did not get as much done as I wanted to, spend a lot of time with my kids instead and enjoyed the weekend.
But there is some progress, getting closer by the day. My best estimate is that I will be able to finish it off by next weekend at this rate.
One of my setbacks is that I installed the GPU fans and  discovered that because I there opted for the normal plastic version of Phanteks Halos, that means I missed out on the Asus motherboard adapter to control the digital RGBs...
Did not have that problem on the front fan frames, because I there bought the Lux version that comes including the adapters in the package.
So yet again I have something on the way from Amazon.

 

Let me show you what I did today, sorry some of the pictures are super soft, was charging my battery for the camera and in some places used the phone instead.

 

Test fitted the top part, it still fits in its original spot.

 

 

As you might notice, I had taped a piece of paper on the underside, so I knew exactly where my new top gpu fan is located.
So had to make a little vent hole in the top.

 

 

I wanted to use my biggest rivets, so had to even widen the holes in the vent cover, but it all seems like it turned out like intended in the end.
The build is more and more getting that sleeper vibe, where you would not expect it to be like this on the inside, if you only seen it from the outside.
Similar to old cars there have a ton of changes to the engine and drives like a race car, but looks like a trashcan on wheels.

 

 

Next up I thought it was about time to install my heatkiller iv cpu block.
But what was this, there is clearly something wrong with the batch of Hydronaut paste I bought, its extremely hard and can not be spread out at all, not even after I tried heating it with a lighter (before applying it), it actually turned even harder.

 

Never used this paste before and damn this might be the last time I try it. Is that normal for Hydronaut?

 

 

So instead I opted to use my last drop of Kryonaut paste.
I ended up having just enough for 1 application, one very thin spread all over the IHS.

 

 

And then it was time to install the block, it looks soo good... No wonder its considered one of the best blocks for Intel CPUs, the build quality is second to none!
-don't mind the light scratches on the top part, mine is a B-ware and was quite a lot cheaper, but its only visible with light directly on it.
The business end is perfectly smooth, very mirror like and could see right into the innards of my camera.

 

 

So now it looks like this

 

 

There is not one screw in the build I have not touched, not one surface I have not modified, nothing is let up to chance, it's all over the top calculated and measured but it looks like my plan is actually going to work.

 

I just tried lifting the machine and OMG it's extraordinary heavy!!!
If anything, that's probably the only thing I have not thought of.... Let's see if it has to stay on the table or it will end up in the closed as originally planned, if I can carry it.

 

Lets finish off for today with one of the sexier shots, see you next time:

 

[AT0MAC]

You know the feeling, when a tiny little detail of something keeps you awake at night and is really annoying you.
Thats what just happened to me now, the rubber dampers on my GPU fan frames were all over the place, not straight and good looking.

Will never really be seen in the finished build, but I know it's there and its a real eye sore if you catch it.
Had to do something!

 

I have some foam damper I bought many years ago, surprised to see I still remembered where it was. It has a very adhesive backside, so it will stay in place forever!
Left side is before, right side is after.

 

 

So now it looks like this:

 

 

Notice the 80mm fan on the m.2 SSD cooler?
I just figured, why not, there seems to be space and I have an unused fan header right there + a crap ton of fans so a little gorilla glue double sided tape, a few zip ties and bam, active cooled m.2!
This PC will be a really cool machine, literally.....

 

 

Speaking of cool, just took a rather cool looking shot of how it looks right now:

 

 

As seen from above, its almost 50/50 white/black.

 

Now its past 1am at night here in Denmark, better get back to bed, problems solved. Stay tuned for more another time. Goodnight

 

[AT0MAC]

You only get 1 picture today:

 

 

I know it's a bad picture, take with my phone and it totally had troubles with the shinny reflective surfaces and lack of color.

 

I have installed tubes!!

 

It looks stunning in real life, seriously these chromed brass tubes are so beautiful (never thought I should say that about a computer part).
Wait and see when I make much better pictures for the reveal...

 

Did not have time to play with water today, so that has to wait.

 

Stay tuned for more!

[AT0MAC]

Today's update is again one of the small ones, not much to say and don't want to reveal too much until its truly done.

 

I have played with water!

 

 

First off, I don't think I told you about my quest to find blue paper towels, that's rather difficult! At least here in Denmark...
I wanted blue, as it will show up drops of water much more noticeable than a white piece of paper does.
Ended up getting a 1.000 pieces huge roll off Amazon! I think I have enough for a while now....

 

Flushed some distilled water trough the system, just to see if it leaked, and so far no leaks
To my surprise it actually only holds a little above 200ml, like maybe 220ml when totally empty. That's really small!

 

Lastly, I don't want to take any chances shorting anything out, so have hooked the power trough a very rare power filter - the P. Lyngdorf 6A-CAL-6F, hand build by Peter Lyngdorf (look him up, he is a rather famous Danish guy in the audio industry, I used to work for him).

So right now and the coming 24hours my system will run trough Mayhems Blitz Kit Part 2 cleaner, looking like this:

 

 

The power supply is my old trusty SeaSonic X400FL fanless, just added a fan to see when the power supply have power if the pump is disconnected.

The rig is humming along at full power, bit annoying but whatever, as long as its for a good cause.

 

 

See you next time for a small update!

[AT0MAC]

I just got featured today on Facebook!

 

Over at the Danish tech site Tweak.dk

 

 

Anyway, beside that I decided to make a public Facebook profile, so I can interact with the commenters there without making it too personal.

 

-so if anyone is interested, now you can even follow me on fb! Will at some point throw more stuff there about other crazy projects I do in my spare time, I am an all-round-nerd. I just don't really like their privacy police about ownership of content, so have to pick and chose wisely.

 

Rig have now been running Bliz Kit Part 2 for 23 hours and eventually got all the air out, so its actually rather quiet even that its on full speed. Pretty nice.

 

About time to empty the rig, no leaks so far, and starting to flush it trough a couple of times.

 

 

//Catch you later

[AT0MAC]

Dang it! I just found out I have ordered the wrong RGB motherboard adapter

Its a normal RGB one, not a digital RGB one, like what I need.

 

It's being delivered tomorrow but whatever.....

 

So I have now ordered a Phanteks Halos Lux fan frame, because I know it comes with the right adapter.

In the same order is a slimmer 80mm fan for my m.2 cooler, because im fairly sure that the one I put there now, is going to hit the side panel when its back on.

Also, ordered some different pressure valves, as I actually rather have a black than a silver, and not sure what design I like best, so bought both the Thermaltake and the Alphacool one...

 

I still hope for a reveal latest monday or tuesday next week.

 

//later

[AT0MAC]

Minor update.

 

I'm done flushing the loop and have filled it with the strange Koolance LIQ-702 liquid, it's little clearer than water but a little thicker, looks like good stuff to fill a loop with.

So I have turned the system on and am playing around with BIOS updates, BIOS settings, overclocking, lighting and in general tweaking the system for top performance.
Have neglected the last cable management until I get my digital RGB fan frame, and also not mounted my LED light bar in any permanent place, it's just floating around.

 

When I turned it on and started playing around in BIOS i immediately noticed a thing I have totally overseen - my pump is 12v Molex powered, the 3pin cable is only for monitoring!
So as of now I have no way of speed controlling it and it chugs away at max level, making quite the hum.
Just ordered a rotary voltage controller for molex in/molex out, but only place I could find it was on ebay  from the US... So will take quite a while before it arrives.
Should not impact my deadline of soon making a big reveal, I can always add this thing later.

 

God damn there are many settings in this BIOS, i'm trying to make the best of it and reinstall a tuned version of Windows 10 Pro, tuned for max gaming performance.

For now, you get a picture with some un-adjusted lighting...

 

If you notice the 2 lighted keyboards, the upper one is for the Killer Panda, the lower for my Mini3 machine, my daily driver for now until this is done.
I have more PCs and more keyboards than most......

 

See you later!

[AT0MAC]

Im not totally sure my last package will arrive by tomorrow as planned, so don't hold your breath if I can not reveal on monday.

Currently overclocking and it looks like Der8auer did his homework on my CPU from Caseking, I can't get past 1.38volt and 5GHz, just like it was written on the box of the 8600K Advanced Edition binned CPU I originally bought there.

 

This is the last picture you get before it's done, I will be silent until then.

 

 

//Take care till I write you next time

[AT0MAC]

Let me give you an update:

 

I have broken one of my LED fan frames by adding too many LEDs to the same motherboard output, it will only cycle rainbow colors or show white now, I can no longer control it, it does it all random.

 

To make it slightly worse, it's one of the digital fan frames, were I need that little adapter thingy I had problems getting last time....

So either I will move my non-Lux Halos to the top mounted fan, and use Halos Lux on the graphics card, or I could buy both a non-Lux and a Lux, to replace the now broken non-Lux and get the extra adapter off the Lux version.
Will have to decide latest tomorrow so I can get it ordered for delivery sometime next week.

 

Another slightly annoying thing, I want this build to be ROCK solid, so I'm testing my OC with a lot of different software, but one of the first I use is OCCT - it can detect errors the other programs don't seem to find and it really pushes the system to it's limit, more than AIDA, IntelBurnTest or Asus RealBench does.

To that extend it looks like my Advanced binned CPU from CaseKing can not live up to it's claim of 1.38volt and have to be somewhere near 1.41volt for a stable 5GHz OC on all cores.
With the temps being around 85c it's actually not a problem, but in the long run it might mean my CPU will have a premature death as I burn out the components on it's substrate.
Well, I kind of think even that is worth it, I have never burned out a CPU before, so this might be the first one anyway.

 

Actually part of the high temperature might be because my 18watt pump is little too powerful for this very short loop, there is about 225ml of fluid and the total length is close to 1.2 meter long including rad.
One time when filling the loop I had forgotten to close one of the valves, it's pretty high speed the liquid comes with!
Not sure the flow meter is reading correctly, it's stated as 9L/min but to me it looks much quicker.

 

Anyway, I thing that when I get the volt adjust thingy with molex plugs, I ordered over seas in the US the other day, then I will be able to lower the speed a little and give the fluid a better chance of actually picking up some heat before it rushes trough the CPU block.

 

 

So I can surely say, I can not reveal on monday, I'm not good with dead lines.
I will keep you posted, the system is alive, it just need to learn some baby steps before I deem it perfect.

[AT0MAC]

a 3 hour OCCT test have just passed and I now know it's dead solid on 1.41volt at 85C, but I very much rather stay below 1.4 volt and have been reading up on how Caseking bin their CPU, found out I have missed a few settings along the way...

 

Also, can see they use Prime95 26.6 with a custom 1344 FTT size and FTTs in place, to determine if a CPU is stable, as that should represent the kind of load most users will experience.
OCCT is way above that level and more for mission critical environments.

 

 

Let's see if this is going to pass and I can move on to RAM and GPU tuning.

 

//I will be back!

[AT0MAC]

While I wait to proper stress test my OC and I wait for the last few parts to arrive to fulfill my vision, I have now taken on other side projects to tie in with the new rig.

 

So i'm sorry if i disappoint by not revealing today, but i will rather do it the right way instead of stressing trough it.

 

 

I have ordered a new mouse and mouse mat, and I'm thinking to even upgrade my monitor!

 

Also some plans to mod the closet, an active ventilation system and some mirrors to give it more "bling" - just because it's in a closet I don't have to be ashamed of it.

 

I'm so close to finishing this very long build.
Will see you very soon for more exiting show and tell

[AT0MAC]

I'm still at it trying to find the perfect monitor upgrade...

 

Today my new mousemat and mouse arrived, on friday I should get the new fan frame, sometime next week my pump speed adjusting thing should arrive and somewhere in between I should be able to get mirrors and mod my closet with better airflow.

 

It has kind of turned into a whole-room mod, not just the case i'm modding anymore.

 

To give an idea of what Im trying to build, without revealing too much:

 

• The closet.
• 4x ML120 fans + 2xML140 fans - because I already have them (yes, I definitely got fans to spare)
  
• Will use the fans to blow warm air out to open air from outside - have some clever filters and closing mechanisms to avoid bugs and other nasties to get into the closet.
  
• On the shelf is my server, so it's also going to get much better cooling by doing this.
• And lastly, adding some light and some mirrors around the machine, to see it from all sides when I open the closet without having to move it around (it's drop dead heavy!)
  

 

So in the end, its a combination of both "bling" and practicality - pimp my closet!

See you later, but will not deadline it until im absolute sure of when a reveal will take place.

[AT0MAC]

as we wait for the build to be totally done, I could use your help and pick the best monitor for it

 

 

head over here and let me know what you would do

 

[Guest savagepain]

finish the build dont be a tease lol 

[AT0MAC]

12 hours ago, savagepain said:

finish the build dont be a tease lol 

Yea but im waiting for the last few parts to arrive, so better use the time on other things. Would love to soon finish it up!

[AT0MAC]

Hey - Im still at it! Whats holding me back is I don't have total success yet in my overclocking attempts.

 

I'm so close to have OC'd my DDR4 2400 to 3000Mhz.

 

 

Have now readjusted timings and trying again, a full set of 4 passes takes about 9 hours so sometime tomorrow I will know.

In other news, I received the parts I need to finish!
Just have not yet had time to actually mount them, due to OC going wrong, garden work, kids, wife, job and having a life next to being the biggest nerd in town.

 

It's all dependent on when my OC is succeeding, a day or two after that and then I can reveal the whole thing.

I also started to mod the closet, but have come to a conclusion I will reveal the build before I deal more with the closet, it proved to be way more difficult than anticipated.

 

Lastly, I found out what my new monitor should be - LG 32GK850G-B, it just ticks all the right boxes for me., going to order it later tonight.

 

 

So stay tuned, we are very close now, 98% done!

[AT0MAC]

Success!! I have overclocked my DDR4 2400 to 3000 Mhz with reasonable tight timings @1.4Volt

 

A few days more and all this is over and I can start enjoying the fruits of my work.

 

[AT0MAC]

I have lately resorted to post minor updates on the facebook page dedicated to my alias.

 

https://www.facebook.com/at0mac

 

I'ts just little bit easier as I only have to post one place and can do it all from my phone.
Don't want to reveal too much so sorry if I have been quiet.

 

Now I can see the end of the tunnel and am ready to put a deadline on the big reveal:

 

Thursday 24th of May 12:00am GMT+1 midday Danish time

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Until then, you get small teasers of what I been doing the past week or so:

 

Found out the fan frame I had gotten a good deal on, was not for 120mm but was for 140mm!
So despite I have a crap ton of fans, Noctua, Alphacool, Corsair MLs and other high-end fans, they where all to no use, as they are mainly the wrong size, 120mm...

SO had to get some new that will fit, so I can vent the closet to the outside air.

 

 

Could have gone with cheaper ones, but I do love the ML series and white light seems like a good idea in a dark closet.
Will be the most technologically advanced closet I have ever seen myself.

 

In other news, my monitor arrived!

 

 

But because im super busy finishing this build, I have not unpacked it yet, hopefully will do so tomorrow.

 

Yesterday I installed my new mouse and layed down my new mousepad, ROG Scabbard &

ROG Gladius II Origin

 

 

The best pad/mouse combo I have yet to have (I wear out or break a mouse in a year typically so I have had a lot of mice)

 

And today I have done arts and crafts, you will see the purpose in the reveal

 

 

 

 

See you very soon again for a lot more show and tell, or wait for it and the reveal is in just a few days (hopufully I can live up to it this time it's announced so much)

[AT0MAC]

Today I passed by Ikea and picked up 4 boxes of tiny little mirrors, I think there is 8 mirrors in each box and first of all it took forever getting trough that huge store, it's quite far from where I live and lastly, god damn they are heavy little things!

 

I'm totally exhausted from that trip....

But ir's part of the plan, so everything should still hold up

 

I'm going to be super busy tomorrow, there is a lot to do before the reveal:

 

* Make a hole in a shelf for my closet cooling solution.
* Mount set shelf im closet including 3x ML140 Pro LED fans
* Install fancy mirrors in closet
* Paint the air tunnel so moisture will not be a problem.
* Maybe install a fan inside each airtunnel, to help the ML140 at the beginning of it?
* Install dust filters in airtunnel
* Setup the new monitor
* Re-mount the old monitor in a new spot
* Take awesome pictures of the whole shebang !
* Reveal on thursday!!

 

There have been some minor changes to the system the past few days, like it will not have a magnet mounted quick release for the front/top cover, it was too difficult to make it work with the USB and power button also mounted on the front, and the fact that my clever little m.2 cooling solution makes the perforated side panel rattle due to turbulence, well that just means it will be with open side panels.

 

So I think I will mainly focus my time on the actual build reveal for thursday, and then the rest maybe later on thursday or in the coming days after, but I will try to get as much done as possible tomorrow.

For now I just need to relax, have unwrapped the new monitor and really enjoy it even that is is just temporary set up in this spot for now, it's HUUUGE!

 

 

 

See you sson with more finished work