Node202 Ryzen 7 2700x GTX1080 fully water cooled

[TangoUK]

So this project all started when my laptop started feeling old and sluggish, I also started being away for a few days at a time in hotels and needed a way to game on the move so came up with the concept of building a system that would all pack away into a normal sized suitcase and travel with me in the car.

 

Decided on the Fractal Node 202 case purely because of its slender shape like games consoles. My initial idea was just to run air cooling with a few extra fans to increase air flow, but I took the chance on a second hand STRIX GTX 1080 of ebay and got my self a dud (Major artifact and crashing windows boots, managed to fix this card afterwards tho and is running in my main rig now sweetly!) So that's where my water cooling ideas started from as my main gaming rig had a MSI seahawk GTX1080 which was also slightly smaller in size PCB wise. So I begun researching what parts i may need to get this completed with the least amount of customization needed.

 

And came up with this spec sheet.

Motherboard - ROG STRIX x470-i 

CPU - Ryzen 7 2700X

Ram - 2x8GB 3200mhz Corsair Vengeance

Storage - 970 EVO m.2 512GB

PSU - Corsair SF600 

Case - Fractal Node 202

 

AIO - Fractal Kelvin block

Radiator - XSPC TX240

Fans - 2x Noctua NF-A12x15 PWM 

GPU block - EK waterblocks

Various fittings were required including T-pieces 90's and 45 degree bends all these picked up from EKWB.

 

 

 

 

So before going down the water cooled route this is what I was left with;

 

But then with this GPU not working I swapped over to the smaller PCB sized MSI one and started building up my water cooling solution. Had to adjust the AOI's block AM3 mount to allow me to attach it to a AM4 motherboard.

 

 

Then I ran into my biggest problem of this build and that was the connection from the GPU into my radiator. not for the life of me could i find something that would work until I came across the swivel 90 degree block from EKWB which seemed like the end was in sight! 

 

 

Got it all piped up and then started to fill up the system and my days it takes a fair while and just when you think you've got all the air out out appears another air bubble! 

 

 

 

 

But now that I've had it running I've been testing out temps I get. without any overclocking It runs around about the 65 degrees mark while gaming / streaming. Bumped the CPU up to 4.3Ghz and found the temps to rise on the CPU to around the 75-80 degrees mark. This was prior to changing the fan curve as the fans them self on the radiator would hardly be on most of the time. 

 

 

Overall really impress with this little unit I've paired it up with a 24" 144hz refresh rate monitor and my standard mouse and keyboard and have been using it as my daily for a while to make sure every things good to go before venturing out into the wild! Still have to make up the inside of my suitcase for transportation still but that's another project! 

 

 

Took it for a little test run down at the inlaws place and overall really impressed with it, ease of set up and play! 

 

Already got eyes on my next wee adventure and that being a duel system in one case idea using the Phanteks Enthoo Evolv X case to have a gaming / steaming set up in one unit. 

[Meganter]

I'm amazed that you could fit so much in such a tiny case especially with a custome water loop !

[For Science!]

If you don't have a fluid temperature sensor, would highly recommend you to get one. It is all too common in SFF custom loops to neglect the fluid temperature and end up with deformed tubes or dying pumps.

[TangoUK]

1 hour ago, For Science! said:

If you don't have a fluid temperature sensor, would highly recommend you to get one. It is all too common in SFF custom loops to neglect the fluid temperature and end up with deformed tubes or dying pumps.

Thanks for the heads up i'll look at getting one and sticking it in. Whats water temps would you say is safe in your opinion? 

[For Science!]

36 minutes ago, TangoUK said:

Thanks for the heads up i'll look at getting one and sticking it in. Whats water temps would you say is safe in your opinion? 

I guess below 55 would be my standard. I would have fans ramp up to 100% at anything above 50 degrees. I believe 60 degrees will start causing serious issues for the pump.

[Tech_Dreamer]

Sleek!

[zogthegreat]

Nice work!

[ShadowChaser]

Hey I had the same idea a while ago, trying to keep the temps of my 1070Ti in check! Though in my case my execution was quite lacking as I couldn't find a block terminal like yours and had to resort to cutting a hole in mine XD

Spoiler

How did you get the TX240 to fit without interfering with either the front panel or the power extension? I had to move my plug out an inch and a half to accommodate the radiator.

Spoiler

 

I'm really impressed with what you were able to do! How are your temps with a beefy CPU and GPU on a single slim rad though?