Critique my Build please?

[Solarisfire]

So I just finished the latest round of upgrades to my rig.
Just looking for some feedback.
What would you change? What looks untidy? What could I improve? How could I make it run cooler/faster?

 

 

Specs:

 

AMD FX-8350 (Running at 4.8Ghz Stable)

Corsair H100i Cooler

2x AMD R9 290

Asus Crosshair Formula-Z Motherboard

Corsair Carbide 300R Case

Corsair AX1200i PSU

32GB Crucial Tactical RAM

2x OCZ Revodrive 100GB PCI-E SSD

2x 1TB Seagate 7200RPM HDD

3x 32GB Kingston SSD (These things are OLD!)

2x EKWB 120mm Radiator

2x EKWB R9 290X Nickel Waterblock

Primochill tubing

XSPC Bay mount resivoir with D5 pump

Corsair Fans throughout (Including 2x 140mm AF series on the door that was removed for this photo)

 

[miyabwah]

Amazing build. Interesting loop.

[Jobbe03]

Amazing build. Interesting loop.

This. 

[Jrobertson]

@Lanoi is right the loop is super sexy

[Solarisfire]

Yeah, I decided to experiment on the loop. I know the cards run super hot, and I didn't have a load of room for radiators.

 

So I ran

 

Reservoir -> Pump -> First Card -> Radiator to dump heat from first card -> Second Card -> Radiator to dump heat from second card -> Reservoir.

 

It works, idle temps are down to 29-31 degrees, and load is down from 95 degrees to around 45-50...

[Panda of the Shadow]

If i had to complain about one thing then that red and black is waayyy overused.  Also the useage of silvery fittings is killing the aesthetics. (IMO) 

[Goldilock]

Giving thoughts on Hard Tubing?, Singularity Computer recently does video on hard tubing and it looks balling

[Butterfish]

it's a great build, tho the loop order is a bit messy.

[Solarisfire]

I did contemplate some hard tubing. The problem with a bay mount reservoir is that it needs the flexible tubing so you can slide it forward by a few inches to access the filling hole on top. And I didn't want one part of the loop to be flexible and the rest hard so kept it all flexible for consistency.

 

If I had a bigger case with more room I'd fit a different reservoir/pump combo elsewhere in the case.

 

And I had already considered taking all the silvery fittings off and spraying them black... May do that at some point.

[Solarisfire]

it's a great build, tho the loop order is a bit messy.

 

I agree, but I didn't want the first card to heat the water up and feed it straight to the second card, I wanted it to be cooled after each card.

[Butterfish]

I agree, but I didn't want the first card to heat the water up and feed it straight to the second card, I wanted it to be cooled after each card.

You do know that the difference between the hottest and coldest part of your loop is only a difference of 1-2c? Loop order doesn't really matter.

[Solarisfire]

You do know that the difference between the hottest and coldest part of your loop is only a difference of 1-2c? Loop order doesn't really matter.

 

Eugh you just made me lose the game...

 

Also, did not know that. I thought rads have a delta t of around 10-15 degrees?

[Butterfish]

Eugh you just made me lose the game...

 

Also, did not know that. I thought rads have a delta t of around 10-15 degrees?

If you think about how fast the coolant is going through the blocks and rads, it's quite easy to understand why there is no real difference in water temps in the loop.

[Osmium]

Loop is sexy. However I am not sure the dumping the heat actually helps. In theory the heat capacity of water (and the large amounts of it moving quickly through the loop) is enough to effectively move all of the heat of the CPU and 4 hot GPUs. The thing that drives temps up is the radiator's ability to disperse the heat transferred by the water. However if it actually does make a real world difference who am I to say otherwise

 

Very good job man!

[Solarisfire]

If you think about how fast the coolant is going through the blocks and rads, it's quite easy to understand why there is no real difference in water temps in the loop.

Even so, if I had use a crossfire bridge to go direct from one card to another. It would have only taken one length of tubing out of the equation. Because I was trying to cram so much into such a small case (way more than this was ever designed for) I had to split the 120mm radiators up, and it would always mean more tubing than I really wanted to run...

 

Next build I'll probably pick a bigger case

[Butterfish]

Even so, if I had use a crossfire bridge to go direct from one card to another. It would have only taken one length of tubing out of the equation. Because I was trying to cram so much into such a small case (way more than this was ever designed for) I had to split the 120mm radiators up, and it would always mean more tubing than I really wanted to run...

 

Next build I'll probably pick a bigger case

I don't think the case size is the problem. I've seen way smaller builds with more rads Why not swap out the h100i and get a CPU block + 240 rad?

I would properly do this:

 

picture

[Solarisfire]

Yeah I'd already thought about that... I love the whole Corsair Link thing though. The AX1200i's com cable connects directly to the H100i, and then I have 4 PWM fans being controlled by it.

 

But it would make more sense in the long term... dammit...

[Butterfish]

Yeah I'd already thought about that... I love the whole Corsair Link thing though. The AX1200i's com cable connects directly to the H100i, and then I have 4 PWM fans being controlled by it.

 

But it would make more sense in the long term... dammit...

You should quote my comments or i will most likely not see your response.

 

Why didn't you just get the corsair link module if you just wanted to use the software?

 

[Solarisfire]

You should quote my comments or i will most likely not see your response.

 

Why didn't you just get the corsair link module if you just wanted to use the software?

 

Sorry, new to the forum and not used to how stuff works yet.

That's definitely an option.. :-)

[Butterfish]

Sorry, new to the forum and not used to how stuff works yet.

That's definitely an option.. :-)

No need to be sorry. That's what we're here for, right?